Claims State govt stealing people’s land not true
KOTA KINABALU: Allegations of the state government stealing the people’s land are untrue, said Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister, Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan.
He said these accusations are thrown by certain quarters who have personal or political motives to incite the people by smearing the state government’s image.
However, he said he believes that the people will not be fooled by such allegations.
“From 2020 to 2024, the ruling state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor through the Land and Survey Department (JTU) has issued a total of 16,760 Native Title (NT) or Field Register (FR) draft grants for 223 villages with an area of 4,834.348 hectares or 11,945.9 acres.
“In addition, 11 settlements with an area of 271 hectares or 670.5 acres have been gazetted throughout Sabah in the same period.
“All of this proves that today’s state government is concerned about the people’s plight and continues to focus its efforts to defend their rights in matters related to Native Customary Right (NCR) land and the issuance of native land ownership as an approach to eradicate poverty and improve their well-being.
“So let us not believe these allegations and instigations by irresponsible quarters as it will only disrupt the unity that has long been synonymous with our beloved state,” he said in the State Assembly sitting question-andanswer session here on Wednesday.
Nizam was responding to a supplementary question by Liawan assemblyman Datuk Annuar Ayub Aman who questioned on allegations of the state government stealing the people’s land as well as the number of NT and FR draft grants issued by the current state government and how many native settlements have been gazetted throughout the state.
Annuar had also asked whether the state government will review the Sabah Land Ordinance 1930 to look into whether there are any irregularities that could lead certain parties into thinking the ordinance does not protect the rights of Sabah natives anymore.
He also asked whether they plan to establish a Native Land Tribunal to solve related issues such as delays in the processing of grant issuances, unauthorised swaps of NT land to Country Lease (CL) land and demands concerning native land rights.
Nizam responded, saying that such issues are often seen on social media but does not reflect the reality of the situation, and they have stages of procedures including in the land ordinance to solve whatever related problems they come across.
“That is why for the time being, the state government does not have any plans to establish a Native Land Tribunal as the Sabah Land Ordinance 1930 is sufficient to navigate any land disputes.
“If there are any parties who are not satisfied, they can bring the results of land investigation by JTU to the courts for a decision to be made.
“However, the government of today is constantly looking at ways to bring benefit to the people of Sabah. So hopefully, we can better the existing laws for their good,” he said.
Earlier, Nizam said that a total of 4,339 draft grants with an area of 8,787.41 hectares for NT or FR land application was provided in 2023, while 406 draft grants with an area of 4,199.53 hectares for leased land application was also provided in the same year.
He clarified that these NT or FR grants can only be given to Sabah natives, whereas CL can be assigned to companies, statutory bodies and individuals either originating or not originating from Sabah.
“The state government always gives priority of land ownership to natives with the aim of eradicating poverty and improving their standard of living,” he said.
Based on JTU statistics, he said the number of registered NT or FR land grants as of March 31 this year is 230,540 or 54 percent of the total amount of land grants registered in the state.
As for leased land, he said as much as 200,087 were registered in the same period, adding that the leases are vital in the development of the state’s economy in terms of revenue collection, development, investment and job opportunities.
“The state government always ensures a balance between the number of NT or FR and leased land ownerships in order to achieve its objective to eradicate poverty and uplift the development of the state,” he said.