PANEL Inkuiri Nasional hak tanah orang asal

PANEL  Inkuiri Nasional hak tanah orang asal/asli yang dijalankan  Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia (Suhakam) diTenom pada Sabtu telah membuka ruang kepada penduduk dikawasan terbabit membincangkan  masalah tuntutan tanah adat atau NCR secara meluas dan terperinci.



Namun ketika sesi pendengaran bermula isu  tanah adat  (NCR), isu geran komunal dan kawasan hutan simpan menjadi topik hangat menjajah sesi berdialog dengan para peserta diDewan Seri Antanom yang dihadiri kira kira lebih 200 orang peserta.

Kelihatan para peserta yang mengambil bahagian dalam sesi dialog begitu bersemangat sekali dimana tanpa segan silu mereka menuding jari kepada kerajaan yang mengamalkan pentadbiran kurang cekap menyebabkan masalah pengurusan masalah rakyat khususnya masalah permohonan tanah.

Mereka mendakwa bahawa tanah tanah mereka  yang sudah diukur lebih 30 tahun lalu lamanya tetapi sehingga sekarang tidak dikeluarkan geran. Malahan ada juga terdapat tanah rezab perkampongan seperti diKg Gumisi yang disuarakan Nasip Ampiu dimana penduduk kampong seramai 150 orang terpaksa berputih mata dan menjadi pelarian dibumi sendiri kerana tanah itu sudah dimliki syraikat ternama dari Semenanjung.

Para peserta dibenarkan bercakap dalam sesi dialog itu dengan masa yang terhad dihadapan panel Inkuiri Suhakam terdiri daripada, Pengerusi Suhakam Tan Sri Hasmy Azam, Pesuruhjaya Mohammad Sha’ani, Pesuruhjaya  Suhakam Sabah Jannie Lasimbang dan mantan Naib Pengerusi Suhakam Nasional Tan Sri Simon Sipaun.

Sebelum itu, para peserta telah diberitahu Pesuruhjaya Suhakam Sabah Jannie Lasimbang bahawa pihak mereka menjalankan dua peringkat dimana diperingkat awal dan pertama para peserta akan melalui sesi konsultansi sepertimana yang berlaku sekarang.

Tambahnya, menyusul seterusnya ialah sesi pendengaran awam (Public hearing) dan yang ketiga  dan terakhir  dimana kesemua laporan selepas dirumus oleh para panel Inkuiri akan diserahkan kepada Dewan Rakyat Parlimen Malaysia untuk tindakan seterusnya.

Lasimbang seterusnya berkata, sesungguhnya peranan Suhakam tidak mempunyai kuasa untuk mengambil tindakan mengikut undang undang namun ianya berfungsi sebagai mengesyorkan kepada kerajaan merumuskan perundangan dan arahan serta tatacara pentadbiran  selain menyiasat aduan berkenaan dengan pelanggaran hak asasi anusia.

Peserta daripada Kg Ulau Sipitang Yakub Burung 70, tidak melepaskan peluang untuk mempertikaikan tindakan Jabatan Perhutanan yang memberi mereka notis untuk mengosongkan kawasan itu yang berada dalam Hutan Simpan.

Tegasnya lagi, sedangkan kenyataan Ketua Menteri Sabah Datuk Sri Musa Aman baru baru ini yang memberi jaminan bahawa penduduk yang mendiami kawasan Hutan Simpan tidak akan diganggu lagi oleh pihak berkuasa kerana mereka akan diberi peluang menduduki kawasan tersebut.

“ Jadi…kami mahu tanya mana satu yang betul, sama ada kenyataan Ketua Menteri atau Jabatan Perhutanan? Kami sudah hantar surat bantahan ini kepada Ketua Menteri Sabah berhubung perkara tersebut…tetapi belum ada jawapan. Kami berhak menuntut kawasan itu sebagai tanah waris kami turun temurun,” jelas Yakub.

“ Kalaulah kami penduduk disitu kena halau keluar dari tanah tumpah darah kami, maka dimanalah kami mahu berteduh atau berkampong…apakah kami menjadi pelarian dinegeri sendiri,” tambah Yakub lagi

Seorang lagi penduduk yang mendakwa mewakili Kg Imahit Musah Balu 56, bertegas bahawa mereka tidak akan menerima geran komunal sepertimana yang ditawarkan oleh kerajaan selepas tanah NCR dikeluarkan daripada kawasan Hutan Simpan.

Beliau juga mempertikaikan tindakan kerajaan melarang mereka mengusahakan tanaman padi huma (padi bukit) dikawasan tersebut kononnya tindakan mereka berladang disitu akan merosakkan eko sistem flora dan fauna seterusnya melakukan pencemaran kepada sungai Tolokoson yang berhampiran disitu.

“ Kenapa pula tindakan kami yang sekadar berladang dilabelkan sebagai perosak kepada eko sistem dan melakukan pencemaran sungai….sedangkan kegiatan membalak dikawasa SFI yang telah merosakkan tanah bukit dengan serius tidak dilarang malah  tidak pula dilabel sebagai perosak eko sistem,” tegasnya.

Manakala Sabini Ansumor Ketua Bahagian PBS Kemabong yang kurang pasti tujuan dan matlamat geran komunal  sepertimana yang diumumkan kerajaan sebelum ini.

Beliau menegaskan bahawa sepatutnya penerangan secara menyeluruh perlu dilakukan terlebih dahulu konsep dan tujuan geran komunal kepada rakyat khususnya para penduduk yang terlibat  supaya mereka yang terlibat memahami tujuan itu seterusnya memberi peluang kepada mereka untuk mengemukakan cadangan balas kepada kerajaan.

“ Apa yang kita tahu, hanya segelintir pengerusi JKKK sahaja yang diberi taklimat tetapi tidak dilakukan secara menyeluruh. Tanah pusaka hak milik seseorang individu untuk kehidupan sebaliknya bukan untuk keuntungan,” tegas Sabini.

Oleh: Wartawan JendelaSabah.com

Fulfill The SFMLA on Native Communities

Peter Marajin

REFER to news paper report on Ten companies which are partners of the state administration of 13 forest management units (FMUs) were presented with certificate of compliance by Chief Minister on Saturday.

That the FMU policies are now vindicated and proven to be correct.  

FMU's SFMLA (sustainable Forest Management Licence Agreements) have always been intended to be long term and reforest our forest reserves that have been over logged (wealth extraction) for decades. Continuous logging in very large volumes for many years has put a strain on this resources, and if not properly and immediately addressed, Sabah's natural heritage will soon be irrecoverably wiped out. Now we can see some of the results of the long term policy implemented. 

ln 1997, the state government announced its new policy on sustainable forest management and the adoption of Forest Management Units as the working blocks for the management of its forest, a bold step for a workable definition of SFM and action strategy to achieving it. A strong and continue political commitment at the highest level is indispensable for sustainable forest management to succeed.

Besides economic needs, the role of maintaining the ecological balance and bio-diversity are the biggest compulsion for the government's total commitment to and focus on conservation and reforestation. Saving Sabah's natural forest and ensuring the wellbeing of its people. The longterm policy of FMU is a wealth creation program forthe future generation.

FMU policy under Datuk Seri Panglima Yong Teck Lee's cabinet has taken into consideration all aspects of development in FMU areas including the interest of NCR, the community development, employment and training for local people and basic infrastructure and social development are incorporated in the Sustainable Forest Management Licence Agreements (SFMLA).

Previously and even now there are some people and politicians are trying to mislead the concept of FMU, and manipulate some unfounded stories that the system and concept of FMU benefited nobody but FMU companies. lf FMU policy is no good and does harm to the people I thinkthe present government surely should have revoked and abolised the existing FMU policy.

The presentation of certificate of compliance by Chief Minister last Saturday is the manifestation that the government recognize the good performance of the FMUs under their charge in various parts of the state. As such the FMU initiated by former Chief Miniter Datuk Seri Datuk Panglima Yong Teck Lee is indeed a good policy.

It is our hope that the certificate of compliance not only covers the policy implementation and operational practices but also to fulfill the obligation of the SFMLA on native communities. By doing so the interest of the natives in FMU areas are protected.

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Elimination of NCR on land violates fundamental rights.

PUTRAJAYA: The elimination of native customary rights (NCR) on land occupied by two groups of indigenous people in Sarawak amounted to a gross violation of their fundamental rights, the Federal Court here heard yesterday.

Lawyer Sulaiman Abdullah, representing the native groups, argued that the directive issued by the Sarawak Minister for Resource Planning to deny the customary rights of natives on their land ought to be set aside because it deprived the natives of their life, livelihood and way of life.


He said the survival of indigenous people, such as the appellants in this case, was intrinsically linked to their land because their source of food, medicine and life support system, including their economic, cultural and social way of life, would be taken away when they lose their land.

Sulaiman said Sections 5(3) and (4) of the Sarawak Land Code under which the directive was issued were unconstitutional because the directive amounted to taking away of life, thus violating Article 5 (1) of the Federal Constitution.

Arguing before three-man panel led by Chief Justice Tun Zaki Azmi, Sulaiman said the state laws had failed the test of being just, fair and equitable as defined under the Federal Constitution because those Iaws violated the basic rights of the native people.

Sulaiman also said NCR were not merely proprietary rights that could be equated with the right of an owner of alienated land. Instead, NCR amounted to a right to life and comes under the protection of the Federal Constitution.

"Would mere monetary compensation be adequate to compensate for the interests of native communities in their lands in view of the fact that the NCR amounted to a right to life, and extinguishment would deprive them (natives) of their right to life and livelihood," he said.

He said the special relationship of the indigenous community and their land was also recognised by international human rights law and Malaysian law. He added that it was the responsibility of the Sarawak Government to protect the rights of the natives.

"For natives in Sarawak, this is also a reflection of the Brooke government's belief that Sarawak 'is the heritage’ of its people and that land is their 'lifeblood'," he said.

He also said procedural fairness was not accorded to the appellants, as the natives were not consulted prior to the elimination of their NCR.
The two groups are, respectively, from the Dayak communities of the Kayan, Kenyah and Ukit ethic groups and Iban communities.
The first group - Bato Bagi, Bit Buneng, Siring Angah, Adem Anyie, Jating Ibau and Ngajang Midin – represents five longhouses along Batang Balui in BeIaga District, Kapit, which were affected by the construction of the Bakun Hydro-Electric Dam project.

This group refused to move to the Asap Resettlement Scheme, and continues to stay upriver in Batang Balui.
The second group, Jalang ak Paran and Kamponq anak Amih, are residents of Rumah Munggu, a longhouse in Tatau, Bintulu, Sarawak. Their land in Ulu Batang Tatau was acquired to build a pulpwood mill.

This group, comprising their families, continues to live on its land. Until today, no pulpwood mill has been constructed on the, proposed site and the land reverted to jungle.

Native groups were appealing against the decision of the Kuching High Court that summarily rejected their suit on the question of law. The High Court and the Court of Appeal ruled that the minister's direction was valid. The natives, however, want their case to be remitted back to the High Court for full trial.
Sarawak State Legal Counsel Datuk J.C. Fong argued that NCR, for some 80 years, under the laws of the State of Sarawak, could be eliminated upon payment of whose NCR have been extinguished.

He said NCR were extinguishable if the land over which NCR was exercised was required for public  purpose, such as in Bato Bagi's case where the land was required for the development of the Bakun hydro-electric project to generate hydro-electricity for public use.

Fong said the rule of natural justice, which requires a person to have the right to be heard, was excluded from the law.

The panel, which also included Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum and Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Md Raus Shariff, fixed May 16 for Sulaiman to submit his reply.
On that day, Sulaiman also address the court on mechanism of assessing compensation to be given to natives whose NCR were eliminated.

 - Bernama

Tackle minorities’ plight, govt told

G Vinod

NGOs submit memo urging the PM to resolve illegal immigrant woes in Sabah and recognise indigenous people's rights over NCR land.

KUALA LUMPUR: Six NGOs representing minorities groups in the nation handed over a memorandum to the government in a bid to compel the government to address their plight.


Among the signatories were Borneo Resources Institute (Brimas), Common Interest Group of Malaysia (CigMa), Hindraf Makkal Sakthi, Indigenous People’s Network of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak Dayak-Iban Association (Sadia) and Sarawak Dayak National Union.

“We had a conference on the marginalisation of minorities in Malaysia earlier this year. We drafted a memo and submitted it to the government. Hopefully, the government will look into the issues,” said Hindraf advisor N Ganesan at a press conference today.

The memorandum was addressed to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and was submitted to his department in Putrajaya this morning.

Also present during the press conference were Cigma president Daniel John Jambun and Indigenous People’s Network of Malaysia’s Yusri Yahut.

One of the issues discussed earlier this year was the urgent need to recognise the indigenous people across the nation as the original inhabitants and also for the establishment of committees under local
councils for the disabled.

Ganesan said that NGOs were now coming together as a collective unit and there was a better prospect of having their voices heard with the larger representation.

“We are expanding our network to include other minority groups for strength in numbers. It is gaining momentum and hopefully it can create changes for the marginalised,” said Ganesan.

Return confiscated land

Daniel John said his NGO highlighted a very important issue plaguing the people of Sabah, which is the influx of a large number of illegal immigrants.

“Sabahans demand the government institute a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate allegations that illegal immigrants in the state are being given MyKad indiscriminately.

“We want justice.We also want the names of those illegals issued MyKads deleted from the electoral list before the general election and brought to book,” said Daniel.

Yusri called on the government to respect indigenous people as the original inhabitants of the land.

“We want the government to respect our history and recognise the customary rights of the indigenous people to their lands.

“In addition, we want the government to return land confiscated from the indigenous people or provide adequate compensation for their losses,” he said.