Kanowit landowners await outcome of meeting with Adenan
SIBU: Owners of NCR land in Kanowit support Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem’s move to call for a meeting with Dayak leaders after the New Year holiday to discuss the ‘pemakai menua’ and ‘pulau galau’ issues.
Chairman of Pang Junan Ulu Ngemah People’s Association, Entili Garaji said issues surrounding ‘ pulau galau’ (communal forest reserve) and ‘ pemakai menua’ (territorial domain) must be deliberated on.
“We must know that the Land Code in Sarawak is different from that in Peninsular Malaysia. There are Malays in Peninsular Malaysia while in Sarawak we have Dayaks.
“It is long known that the Dayaks depend very much on traditional paddy farming and they depend on the forests to get their source of meat and wild plants,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
Entili said ‘ pemakai menua’ and ‘pulau galau’ of the Dayaks were recognised even when Sarawak was still under the British.
The association, he said, opposed the Federal Court’s decision on Dec 19 on ‘ pemakai menua’ and ‘ pulau galau’ in the case involving Tuai Rumah Sandah Tabau of Rumah Sandah in Ulu Machan, Kanowit, and eight other NCR land owners.
“We also support Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi who has said that the court decision has insulted the Dayaks,” he said.
Chairman of Sungai Kejungoh/Aya/Ayam Community Development Association, Sao Asing, is also looking forward to the outcome of the meeting.
“I will attend the meeting if they invite me,” he said.
He urged Dayak leaders to find solutions to the matter or else they would face the wrath of the people if they failed to do so.
“It means only one thing to us if the federal government still fails to recognise our rights over ‘ pemakai menua’ and ‘ pulau galau’.
“That means that we are homeless ‘kampar’ (wanderers) in our own homeland,” he said.