Sabah govt to abolish communal land titles

It’s time to let our own people live properly, says Shafie

KOTA KINABALU: The controversial communal titles issued to natives in Sabah by the previous Barisan Nasional government will be revoked, says Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.

The technical and legal aspects of the communal titles were being studied as state authorities move to abolish the titles completely, Shafie said at the Parti Warisan Sabah Hari Raya open house here yesterday.

Abolishing the communal titles was part of Warisan’s GE14 manifesto.

More than 60 communal titles were issued by the Barisan administration under Tan Sri Musa Aman.

However, some portions of land under the titles were placed under joint ventures with state and private companies for agriculture development.

This had caused unhappiness to the natives.

They said their native customary rights (NCR) to ancestral land had been diluted to just being beneficiaries under a communal title.

Shafie said the move to dismantle the communal titles was necessary because such land belonged to natives with customary rights.

He also added that the new state government was also fast-tracking efforts to resolve

Land has been given to big companies that brought little benefit to the local people. Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal

squatter problems in the major towns and help ensure genuine Sabahans were given proper homes.

“Land has been given to big companies that brought little benefit to the local people,” said Shafie.

“Why can’t we give to our own people to live properly?”

Shafie said the Opposition was trying to hinder Warisan’s efforts to help the people and improve Sabah’s economy.

“One example was when the state announced plans to give special passes to undocumented foreign workers in oil palm plantations to overcome worker shortage.

“The Opposition claimed that foreigners were being given citizenship.

“We need to overcome worker shortage at oil palm plantations.

“It is an important industry to our economy. We are giving them work passes, not citizenship,” he said.

— Bernama Festive cheer: Shafie and his wife Datin Seri Shuryani Shuaib greeting visitors at the Parti Warisan Sabah Hari Raya open house in Kota Kinabalu. More than 3,000 people attended the event.