16 NGOs come together to form coalition of Dayak civil societies
KUCHING: Sixteen Dayak non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have formed the ‘Coalition of Dayak Civil Societies’ (CODSC), which is aimed at looking into the restoration and retention of control over Dayak customary laws, particularly those governing native customary rights (NCR) land.
Representatives of these groups, who met last Saturday, have decided that there is still room for improvement when it comes to the government’s course of action over matters involving NCR – namely the ‘Pemakai Menoa’ (territorial / communal domain) and ‘Pulau Galau’ (forest reserves).
According to CODSC spokesman Dr Dusit Jaul, the coalition also aims to provide input and feedback to the government’s special committee tasked with addressing outstanding NCR land issues in Sarawak, which involve not only the Dayaks, but also the Malays and the Melanau.
“It (CODSC) also wants to see the standard and dignity of the Native Court, under the purview of the ‘Majlis Adat Istiadat Sarawak’ (Sarawak Native Customs Council), to be on par with the Civil Court and Syariah Court,” he said.
The coalition was formed in response to two objectives – firstly, to dispel allegations and insinuations that the Dayaks have the tendency to remain quiet and do nothing on following up the positive moves made by either the government such as the proposal to codify Pemakai Menoa and Pulau Galau, or by the NGOs like the recent NCR rally; secondly, to express displeasure with the court judgment on the cases of Tuai Rumah Sandah, Tuai Rumah Nyutan and Tuai Rumah Masa, which favoured the state and major land developers.
To the CODSC, the judgement over Tuai Rumah Sandah’s case was detrimental in that it ruled Pemakai Menoa and Pulau Galau not having the force of law.
The case of Tuai Rumah Nyutan was much worse, in that the court ruled that the provisional lease and titled land were indefeasible – even when the NCR could be proven.
On the Tuai Rumah Masa’s case, the court ruled that successful NCR land claimant could only be compensated, even when the NCR on disputed land had been proven.
On this, Dusit claimed that there might be a tendency for the compensation to be less than satisfactory, or below the current market price.
In relation to this, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg had, quite recently, said the Government’s Amendment Bill would be moved in July this year towards the codification of Pemakai Menoa and Pulau Galau, following a seminar attended by community leaders here over the same issue.
“The group (CODSC) hopes that the proposed amendment to Sarawak Land Code should include a new provision enabling landowners to be adequately compensated, or their rights upon such land to be reinstated,” said Dusit, who chaired the Saturday meeting at a hotel here.