KOTA MARUDU: Six more villages in Kota Marudu will be surveyed to be alienated from areas allocated for development so that the issuance of communal titles for the villagers concerned can commence.
Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said this progress was true to the Barisan Nasional’s promise to resolve the native land issue in Sabah, and augured well with the government’s efforts to ensure the welfare of the rural folks.
The Kota Marudu MP, who attended a meeting chaired by the state Land and Survey Department to address the communal title issue here yesterday, said the six villages were Sonsogon Paliu, Sonsogon Magandai, Sonsogon Suyad, Binontungan Suyad, Binontungan Suyad 1 and Kampung Piso.
The communal title for Sonsogon Magandai involves 2,040 acres of land, while Sonsogon Suyad and Sonsogon Paliu involve 1,375 acres and 700 acres respectively, in which almost 300 families and individuals would benefit from the communal titles, he said.
Ongkili said the communal title in Binontungan Suyad involved 1,755 acres of land and 117 recipients, while in the case of Binontungan Suyad 1, the survey involved 960 acres and 64 families, while the area and recipients in Kampung Piso were still being determined.
“The issuance of communal grants is an approach taken by the state government to resolve the native land claims.
“In the case of Kota Marudu constituency, the dispute is over native land that overlaps with land allocated to Begaraya and Safoda for development,” he said.
Ongkili said the land involved in the communal grants did not include five acres for village reserve which would be allocated to each recipient.
He also expressed gratitude to the state government for its foresight in agreeing to commence the sub-division of the first two communal titles issued to Kampung Sungai Magandai and Kampung Bombong 1 in order for the recipients to receive individual titles as soon as possible.
He praised the state government for its innovative conditions for the issuance of individual titles, in which the villagers were required beforehand to develop their land with perennial crops of commercial value, within five years.
“It is to ensure the villagers utilise their land to generate income for themselves instead of leaving it idle.
“There is also additional protection in the issuance of the individual titles whereby the land cannot simply be sold and can only be transferred to family members.
“Hence, the land will not fall into the hands of outsiders or non-natives but continue to be a heritage for their descendants,” he said.
Ongkili also thanked the federal government for allocating RM30 million for Sabah and RM20 million for Sarawak under Budget 2014 to resolve native land claims and for the issuance of communal titles and pursuant sub-division for individual titles.
“We welcome this move as it is undertaken despite land being a state matter, to assist Sabah and Sarawak to resolve the problem. This move is in the true spirit of fulfilling BN’s election manifesto to resolve NCR land issue,” he said.
He remarked that those who opposed the communal grants should understand better the policy and guidelines involved as they were spreading among the people a lot of misconceptions, exaggerated views and wrong information on the communal grants. — Bernama