Penduduk rumah panjang di Saeh menuntut hak tanah adat mereka

SIBUTI: Rumah Bulin Saeh lebih satu jam perjalanan dari bandaraya Miri. Penduduk rumah panjang Bulin Saeh, Niah mahukan kerajaan mengiktiraf tanah NCR mereka sebagai tanah leluhur yang mempunyai geran.  Menurut Tuai Rumah Panjai Bulin, keluarga dan nenek moyang mereka telah tinggal di sana sejak zaman penjajahan sehingga kini mereka masih belum diberi hak milik atau geran tanah di tempat mereka tinggal.

Mereka agak kecewa dengan sikap pihak berkuasa memberi Pajakan Sementara (PL) kepada syarikat dengan mudah, sementara mereka telah berkali-kali menuntut hak tanah NCR mereka tetapi status permohonan mereka tidak diambil sebarang tindakan oleh pihak yang berkenaan sehingga mereka terpaksa menghalang pihak pemaju dari terus menceroboh tanah adat mereka.

Mereka juga tidak puas hati dengan dasar kerajaan Sarawak yang tidak dapat mempertahankan hak tanah adat mereka atau tanah NCR pribumi dari jatuh ke tangan pemaju. Mereka juga tidak setuju dengan keputusan mahkamah persekutuan yang memberi hak tanah NCR rakyat peribumi Sarawak kepada pemaju.

Kami mengesa pihak kerajaan Sarawak bertindak segera meminda Kanun Tanah Sarawak bagi memelihara tanah Hak  Adat Bumiputera (NCR) termasuk tanah adat pinggir bandar orang Melayu Sarawak dari jatuh ke tangan orang asing atau pemaju. Sepatutnya pihak kerajaan memberi keutamaan dan hak kepada penduduk pribumi Sarawak bukannya dengan mudah memberi hak milik kepada orang asing dan yang bukan anak jati Sarawak.

Kerajaan Sarawak jangan memandang ringan masalah yang dihadapi oleh rakyat dan pemilik asal tanah adat ini kerana mereka ini sudah lama menetap dan tinggal di situ sedangkan pemaju menggunakan tanah NCR mereka hanya mementingkan keuntungan semata-mata tanpa memikir akan nasib yang bakal menimpa penduduk kampung yang tidak memiliki tanah untuk mereka bercucuk tanam dan tempat mereka tinggal.

Kerajaan disaran membangunkan kawasan penduduk luar bandar yang masih jauh di belakang dari segi pembangunan dan ekonomi. Beri tanah kepada mereka yang memerlukan tempat tinggal dan tempat mereka bercucuk tanam. Jangan hanya mementingkan keuntungan semata-mata sehingga rakyat terus hidup dalam kesempitan akibat tanah mereka diberi kepada pamaju.

Sekali lagi kami mengesa pihak kerajaan mengkaji semula kanun tanah Sarawak agar ianya tidak merugikan rakyat pribumi tapi hanya menguntungkan pemaju atau syarikat yang hanya mementingkan keuntungan semata. Kerjasama dan tindakan segera dari pihak pemerintah mengatasi masalah ini amat dihargai.

Jofri Jaraiee

Pesuruhjaya PAS, Sarawak

English version

Longhouse residents in Saeh demand their customary land rights

SIBUTI: Rumah Bulin Saeh is an hour's drive from Miri city. Residents of the Bulin Saeh longhouse, Niah wanted the government to recognize their NCR land as ancestral land with a grant. According to Tuai Rumah Panjai Bulin, their families and ancestors have lived there since the colonization until now they have not been given ownership or land grant where they live.

They are quite angry with the attitude of the authorities to give Provisional Leases (PL) to the company with ease, while they have repeatedly demanded their NCR land rights but the status of their applications was not taken action by the relevant authorities until they had to prevent the developer from continuing to encroach on their ancestral land. 

They also disagreed with the decision of the federal court that granted NCR land rights of Sarawakians native to developers. They are also dissatisfied with the Sarawak government's policies that cannot defend their customary land rights or indigenous NCR lands from falling into the hands of developers. They also disagree with the decision of the federal court which entitles the developer to NCR land of native Indigenous peoples.

We urge the Sarawak government to immediately amend the Sarawak Land Code to protect the land of Native Customary Rights (NCR) including the customary suburban land of the Sarawak Malays from falling into the hands of foreigners or developers. The government should give priority to the rights of indigenous people of Sarawak not easily give ownership to foreigners and non-Sarawakians.

The Sarawak Government do not underestimate the problems faced by the people and the original owner of this customary land because they have long been living and living there whereas developers use their NCR land only focus on profit without thinking about the fate that will befall the villagers who have no land for them to plant and where they live.

The Government is urged to develop rural areas that are still far behind in terms of development and economy. Give land to those in need of shelter and where they farm. Do not just purely profit-oriented until the people continue to live in hardship as a result of their land given to the developer.

Once again we urge the government to review the Sarawak land code so that it does not harm the indigenous people but only benefits the developer or the only profit-making company. Cooperation and immediate action from the government to resolve this issue is greatly appreciated.

Yours faithfully

Jofri Jaraiee

Sarawak PAS Commissioner cum Miri PAS Chief