Abang Johari willing to meet Dayak leaders on ‘pemakai menoa’ and ‘pulau galau’

KUCHING: New Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg is willing to meet Dayak community leaders on matters related to the native customary rights ( NCR) claims of “pemakai menoa” and “pulau galau”.

“Yes, I will take that into consideration because that was what the late chief minister had intended to do before,” he said when asked if he would consider meeting the Dayak community leaders on the matter.

Abang Johari said he would pursue what had been laid by Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem Adenan.

“The late Chief Minister had requested that the Dayak community leaders discuss the matter among themselves, and present their proposal to him.

“So I will also take that into consideration and meet them to find solutions to the issue,” he said.

Early this month, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah said the Chief Minister’s Office would organise a meeting soon with Dayak community leaders on the matter.

“I had a meeting with the Chief Minister this morning (Jan 3) to initiate ways to resolve the pemakai menoa and pulau galau matters, which not only concern the Ibans but all natives of Sarawak.

“The Chief Minister showed his willingness to listen and consult with all communities concerned by meeting the leaders on the way forward and finding amicable and reasonable solutions acceptable by all parties,” Uggah had said in a statement.

In a landmark decision last month, the Federal Court ruled that the Dayaks cannot claim land and forests next to their cultivated farmlands as their own.

The three-to- one majority judgment said no law in Sarawak allowed the Dayaks to claim NCR over ‘pemakai menoa’ (communal land or territorial domain) and ‘pulau galau’ (forest reserve).

The apex court also ruled that the Sarawak Land Code, Tusun Tunggu ( Codified Customary Laws), Iban Adat 1993 and several Rajah Orders only recognised cultivated land called ‘ temuda’ as NCR land.