Sarawak Surveyed 1.2 Mln Hectares Of NCR Land, 938,000 Hectares Gazetted

SERIAN, Oct 22 (Bernama) -- The Sarawak Land and Survey Department has surveyed 1,217,766 hectares (3.009 million acres) of Native Customary Rights (NCR) land, of which 938,342 hectares (2.3 million acres) have been gazetted since 2010 until Sept 30, said Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.

He said today the state government had gazetted 12 localities with a total area of ​​12,370.232 hectares, covering 36 villages including Kampung Tebakang Dayak, Kampung Semuja, Kampung Seniawan, Kampung Terbat, Kampung Igom, Kampung Belimbing, Kampung Tabuan Rabak, Kampung Seratau, Kampung Semeru, Kampung Emperoh Gerung and Kampung Danu.

He said all the lands were gazetted under Section 6 of the State Land Code (KTN) as Native Communal Reserves.

"After the gazetting of Section 6, the second stage, namely the surveying of individual lots and the issuance of Section 18 KTN Title Deeds, is being actively carried out throughout the state," he said in his speech at the Land Compensation Cheque Presentation Ceremony, Presentation of the Native Communal Reserve Gazette Section 6 of the Sarawak Land Code and the Serian Division Land Title Deeds here, today.

Awang Tengah, who is also Sarawak's Second Minister of Natural Resources and Urban Development, stressed that the surveying was only carried out with the consent of the land claimants and after there were no boundary disputes.

-“The cooperation of tribal leaders, community leaders and landowners is important so that this programme can be implemented without any delay. Therefore, we would like to emphasise that the survey will only be carried out after receiving valid applications from NCR land claimants which are reviewed based on legal and valid evidence.

“Cases that are still in court will not be surveyed until they are resolved,” he said.

Meanwhile, at the ceremony, a total of RM9,867,937.55 in compensation was handed over to 57 recipients for infrastructure development projects in the Serian area.

-- BERNAMA