Govt Will Not Rob People of Their Land

Election after election and year in year out, the govt have been telling the people, particularly the Ibans, that NCR is no longer an issue. But is it true?

Why do we read almost every day that the Borneo Post is churning out news on the NCR? In fact it is th most single issue in Sarawak which will always attract the attention of any Sarawakian.

Returning back to the title. Is this true? Or are the bloggers mere nonsense people. Why would people spend hours day after day to update themselves on lies. Even if there are some errors in the news in the blog but no one can deny that there are substantial truth in the news which are being surpressed by the mainstream media.

In Sarawak, the govt made a fatal mistake in putting section 5(7) in the Land Code. Under this section, the claimant of a NCR land has to prove his claim. Where did the govt get this idea. In Australia, when the British colonised Australia, they came up with a concept called "terra nulis" meaning no man's land. The British regarded Australia as uninhabited land and therefore any one who needs land must get title from the govt.

Now is this true of Sarawak? The 3 successive Brooke Rajahs have repeatedly pronounced and recorded in the Dewan Undangan Negeri which is the oldest in Malaysia that Sarawak belongs to the natives. In his famous statement this is what the First Rajah said:

"Sarawak belongs to the Malays, Sea Dayaks, Land Dyaks, Kayans, Kenyahs, Milanos, Muruts, Kadayans, Bisayahs, and other tribes and not us. It is for them we labour, not for ourselves."

Even before the Rajah set foot in Sarawak [only Kuching Division at that time], Sarawak was already an inhabited country. There were many tribal nations. These tribal nations were independant nations. Wars were fought on territories. How then can the present govt say that the natives have to prove their claims before the govt can recognise their land rights. It should be the other way round. The govt must disprove the claims if the govt disputes the native claim. The burden to prove should be on the govt.

In the case of Rh Nyawin, what has happened? The court has yet to decide on the customary rights. But the govt is now saying that there is no rights. Is this not pre-empting the courts decision?

Inspite of the numerous denials by the govt, it is only aggravating the situation. In fact, if there is a little bit of humility on the part of the govt, many problems can be resolved. The govt must recognise the rights of the people before the problems can be resolved.

As long as the govt takes the higher ground and insists that the people follow them, they will find themsleves in the future being a govt of the rich and few but not the people. They may be in power for many years to come, but it comes with a heavy price where the people will live in misery and destitute.

Now is the time to make up for the loss. Repent and restore the lost rights of the people.