NCR land surveys cover over 834ha in 512 areas
KAPIT: The Land and Survey Department has carried out New Native Customary Rights ( NCR) Land Initiative perimeter surveys on 834,490ha in 512 areas statewide as of March 31.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan of the 512 areas surveyed, some 430 involving 660,126ha have been gazetted under Section 6 of the Sarawak Land Code.
For Kapit Division, 37 areas have been surveyed involving 91,335ha, with 25 areas involving 59,496ha already gazetted.
“The giving out of the NCR land gazette clearly proves the government’s commitment to recognise the NCR land that belongs to the people. With this document, this also clearly proves that the land belongs to the respective landowners and there is no way the other parties could claim to have ownership of it,” he said during the presentation of NCR gazette Communal Bumiputera Reserve for Sipan- Seawa and LijauManap- Melipis in Song District on Wednesday.
Awang Tengah said he hoped landowners would look after their land properly and take the initiative to develop it for the benefit of themselves and future generations.
He pointed out that with the NCR gazette, the landowners could later apply for individual lots to be surveyed under Section 18 of the Sarawak Land Code.
The Second Minister of Urban Development and Natural Resources explained landowners would need to verify boundaries among themselves to avoid disputes.
“The government has fully borne the cost of the survey of the land worth millions of ringgit. There is no country in the world that provides free survey of the land for the people except for the Malaysian government, and we must thank our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for giving the allocations to the state government for the perimeter survey of the NCR land,” he said.
The gazette for Sipan- Sesawa covers 2,281ha, while for LijauManap-Melipis the gazette is for 4,585.5ha.