Mawan supports call for review of Federal Court ruling on NCR

KUCHING: Saratok MP Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom says he supports the move to file for a review of the Federal Court judgement that native customary rights ( NCR) over Pemakai Menoa and Pulau Galau have no force of law because they are just customs and practices of the natives.

Party-less Mawan said he would rather wait for a court decision on the review rather than make assumptions, arguing that legal avenues over the matter should be exhausted, first and foremost.

Mawan, who is Pakan assemblyman, was reacting to lawyer Baru Bian’s statement that he ( Baru) would file for a review of the apex court judgement on the case involving claimant Tuai Rumah Sandah Tabau whose disputed land is in Ulu Machan, Kanowit.

Three judges decided in favour of the government by stating that NCR has no force of law and that the native community could not stake their claim solely on mere assumption that they had NCR over the land without offering evidence that they had exercised their rights by using the areas in the disputed land for food produce, fishing and hunting.

Only one judge decided in favour of the claimants, when he said pre- existence rights under the native laws which the common law respected included the right to virgin or primary forest which the natives preserved as source of their livelihood.

Earlier, the High Court and the Court of Appeal were in favour of the natives, only for their decisions to be dismissed by the Federal Court on Tuesday.

A review on the decision, if allowed, will in effect put the case before a different panel of Federal Court judges.

Yesterday, Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru ( PBDSB) claimed that failure of the court to recognise NCR over these lands underscored the ignorance of the judges on the importance of Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) which formed the basis of the native rights over their land.