Uggah responds to PKR’s dare, names Xavier as ‘single land code’ minister
KUCHING: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah has named Water, Land and Mineral Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar as the federal minister who had insinuated for a uniformed land code instead of three separate land codes for Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
He said he was compelled to do so in response to a social media post by Parti Keadilan Rakyat ( PKR), which challenged him to name the minister concerned to prove that he was not ‘creating something out of nothing’.
According to Uggah, Xavier made the remark during the National Land Council meeting in Putrajaya last week, in which he insinuated that it was unfair that the country has three laws governing its land administration.
“He ( Xavier) said the country had the Kanun Tanah Negara. Then Sabah had its own Land Code. Sarawak too had its own Land Code.
“By his very own words, it seems Dr Xavier is insinuating that the country should have just one national Land Code covering all. If there is no such intention, why in the first place did he bring it up in his remark?” asked Uggah, who represented the Sarawak government at the meeting.
Uggah, who is Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development, said he immediately interrupted Xavier and asked him to withdraw his remark.
“I immediately interrupted his ( Xavier) speech, and although it was rather rude of me to do so, I have to stand up for Sarawak,” he added.