Sarawak’s Land Code should be revised to provide clarity as to what encompasses communal land or territorial domain (pemakai menoa), over which the Dayak community can assert their native customary rights (NCR), according to Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri James Masing.
“An amendment has to be made so that there is force of law that defines what pemakai menoa is,” he told the media after giving out grants for small rural projects at his office in Kuching.
While it’s not necessary to define cultivated land (temuda) and communal forest reserve (pulau galau) as they are already acknowledged as NCR land, there is a need to delineate what could be claimed as territorial domain, where the Dayaks fish, hunt and forage for their daily necessities.
“If there is no demarcation of pemakai menoa, there will be a fight among the longhouses [with overlapping claims].” As such, it’s imperative to set the boundary of this territory, Masing urged.
Queried if Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) will file a memorandum on this issue to Menteri Besar Tan Sri Adenan Satem, he said there is no need as he is among the state’s officials.
“I can talk to the Chief Minister, there is no need for a memorandum,” said Masing, who is also the leader of PRS.
Last month, the Federal Court handed out a verdict that the communal land and forest reserve adjacent to the Dayaks’ farms cannot be regarded as NCR land.
With only one dissenting justice, the three other magistrates ruled that there is no such law in Sarawak that enables these natives to invoke NCR over their communal land and forest reserve.
Furthermore, the top court said only the Dayak’s cultivated land have been duly recognised as NCR land, under the state’s Land Code, Codified Customary Laws (Tusun Tunggu), Iban Adat 1993 and several Rajah proclamations.
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Diane Foo Eu Lynn, Senior Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email diane@propertyguru.com.my
