A DOZEN or so native customary landowners in Serian are hoping to test Sarawak’s policy and goodwill by asking the state to sell back the land it bought from them for a school project more than a decade ago.

The school project never took off because of the land’s unsuitability and the former landowners are now keen to buy back their land.

Although legally such a manoeuvre is unlikely as the landowners have been compensated for the land, their lawyers believe there is a way out to get back the land from the state.

“It cannot be done (selling the land back to the original owners) once compensation has been fully paid,” lawyer Francis Teron told The Malaysian Insight.

But there is an exception, he said, which can be triggered when the government “freezes” the land under Section 47 of the Land Code.

The state government normally applies Section 47 with the intention to book the land for future and undecided public project and no compensation paid.

Teron said the owners could then file an application to cancel the said Section 47 if the proposed project falls through or that the land left idle for too long.

In this case, the school project was approved under the 11th Malaysia Plan but in the just concluded state legislative assembly, state Education Minister Michael Manyin said the site was shelved for the proposed secondary school as it was unsuitable.

Manyin said an underground stream was found under the land, which would affect the foundation of the school.

Now that the school won’t be built there, the landowners said they would like to buy it back.

“As to whether the land could be returned to the original owners, I believe there is a procedure to follow,” Manyin told The Malaysian Insight.

“The 40 acres (16ha) of parcel NCR land had been properly and legally compensated but because the said land has been found to have underground stream, the state education department was advised to find another site.

“The land was acquired by the government in 2008 through the proper and normal procedure. The owners have been fully compensated based on current market value.”

Serian DAP branch chief Edward Andrew Luwak, while saying that there is a dire need for another secondary school in the district, said if the original site is not going to be used for a school building, it should then be reverted to its original owners.

“They will be just happy to get back their land which is so dear to them. It is a valuable asset for them.

“They will, however, resist any attempt for the land to be used for other purposes,” Luwak said. – November 27, 2019.