IT has been confirmed that the Sarawak Land Code will not be amended at next month’s session of the state legislative assembly.

Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah Embas said the Federal Court decision on Sarawak’s contentious native customary rights (NCR) practices on land claims had pushed the proposed amendment further back, as the committee meant to draw up the amendment was now looking into the repercussions of Friday’s ruling.

Uggah chairs the “pemakai menoa, pulau galau” committee, set up by the state government to study the apex court’s ruling on December 21 last year that the native custom of “pemakai menoa” (territorial domain) and “pulau galau” (communal forest reserve) had no force of law in Sarawak.

In the December decision, the court ruled that the creation of land ownership by Sarawak’s indigenous people based on customary practices applied only to a limited area of farmland (“temuda”) and not forest areas (“pemakai menoa” and “pulau galau”) around their longhouses.

The decision sparked widespread anger among Dayaks, who lost hundreds of thousands of hectares of their traditional foraging areas overnight.

Adding to their woes, the Federal Court, chaired by Chief Justice Md Raus Sharif, in upholding the appeals of two plantation companies, a bank, the state government and the superintendent of the Kota Samatahan Land and Survey Department against a February 2012 High Court decision, on Friday sided with the four appellants’ argument that the plantation companies were protected by Section 132 of the Land Code on the indefeasibility of the lease titles that were awarded to them by the state government.

The defendants were NCR landowners of Kampung Lebor in Gedong, Serian.

The court ruled that the landowners, despite having proven that their land was included in the lease, were deemed to have lost the land and had their ownership rights extinguished, and they could only claim compensation for their losses.

“The repercussion is that the government has found a new way to extinguish NCR land,” said the landowners’ counsel, See Chee How.

“The government can now declare any land as leased land to be given to plantation companies or individuals. If native landowners can prove that their land is involved, the government just pays compensation. They cannot claim the land back.”

“We are now studying the matter (decision). Of course, it will push back our attempt to amend the Land Code,” Uggah said when asked to comment on the court decision after opening the international biomass conference at the Borneo Conference Centre in Kuching today.

He said a “holistic solution” was needed to amend the Land Code, and did not say when the amendment would be tabled.

The next window of opportunity is the assembly’s session in May next year.

Uggah said they held a meeting after the court decision, and they would be “meeting again soon” to discuss the decision in detail.

The amendment was to be tabled at the legislative assembly sitting, which begins on November 8.

However, Uggah had earlier said he was still grappling for a “common definition” of “pemakai menoa” and “pulau galau” that would be acceptable to all ethnic groups.

“Pemakai menoa” and “pulau galau” refer to the practices of Ibans, the largest of the more than 50 ethnic groups in the state.

Failure to get the Land Code amended as promised next month, and the latest court decision, have led some two dozen Dayak civil society organisations to plan a “peaceful indigenous people’s solidarity rally” to pressure the government to speed up the process.

Since the December decision, native landowners have lost all claims cases involving “pemakai menoa” and “pulau galau”.

Baru Bian, one of the state’s leading native land legal experts, said there were between “80 and 100” NCR cases before the court.

The rally will coincide with the opening of the state assembly next month.

Land rights activist Peter John Jaban, of the Borneo Indigenous People Pact (BIPP), said the rally aimed to pressure the state government to “return all the rights and land of Sarawak’s indigenous people”, and to raise the plight of the indigenous people to the international community.

“This rally is historical. It will be the first time that indigenous people have organised such a rally to demand that their rights be respected.

“It’s organised by indigenous people for their community, with the support of community heads, local civil society bodies and the international community.”

John said Dayak organisations Dayak Rights Action Force, Institut Kesedaran Tanah Agraria and BIPP were the rally’s coordinators.

He said the venue had yet to be confirmed, but those attending would be encouraged to wear “red or their traditional costumes”. – October 19, 2017.