Tucked away in the back pages of Saturday's Borneo Post was a small and innocuous looking news-clipping about a Land Commission (see above). It is no surprise that this news report was buried away and did not get the headline news it deserved. In fact, it is a surprise that it was even reported at all!
You see, the heading should have actually read, ‘Ibans will become instant millionaires if Pakatan Rakyat takes over Sarawak.’ But of course the editor of the Borneo Post cannot do that. If he did, he would suffer the same fate the editor of the New Sarawak Tribune suffered a few months ago and end up being reprimanded, suspended and worse still, sacked. In fact, we congratulate the editor of the Borneo Post for having the balls to even publish this news.
The reason we congratulate the Borneo Post for publishing this news is because the setting up of a Land Commission will have far reaching repercussions and consequences for Sarawak and the natives in particular. It will make many, if not all of them, millionaires overnight. Impossible? Not at all. Let's look at what Baru Bian has exactly in mind when he mooted the idea of the setting up of a Land Commission.
According to Bian, the commission will “investigate claims over issuance of land titles and also gazetted areas as the party (PKR) had all along been fighting for recognition of the rights.”
“We are offering in particular the rural folks of Sarawak a solution for their NCR issues. I've said this in the past and I am going to say it again. PKR is reiterating its stance on NCR matters. We are not only looking at natives in rural areas but also at urban Chinese and the Malays in the coastal areas as well.”
What exactly is Bian offering? Baru Bian is offering the setting up of a Land Commission. What is a Land Commission? A Land Commission is a special body set up by the State Government to look into matters and issues concerning land.
Will this body have the authority and power to act independently? Yes. All commissions do. That is why they are called commissions because they have been commissioned and empowered to do something about a problem.
If Bian is elected and Pakatan Rakyat takes over power in Sarawak and replaces the current BN government, we are promised a Land Commission. So how does this Land Commission benefit, in particular, the Dayak natives of Sarawak?
A Land Commission would survey whole areas of native customary lands in Sarawak. This is what PM Najib instructed Taib to do with the recent perimeter survey exercise. However, will the BN government go one step further and issue titles (pala tanah) for these surveyed lands? And who decides the garis menoa or boundaries of these lands? According to Bian, his Land Commission will not only survey the NCL but also have the power to grant titles to the NCL! This means that the pemakai menoa and pulau galau claimed by the Iban will be fully recognised by the Land Commission and titled. Within these boundaries, especially within temuda areas, individual titles will also be granted to individuals, not just communal titles.
If Bian's Land Commission will do this, then this will be the major break-through that will empower the Iban at long last. Ownership of their lands will be recognised and with titles, the Iban can finally go to banks and financial institutions to apply for loans with their land titles as collateral for mortgages. This means Iban will have the same opportunities as other communities to start their own business with seed money from bank loans guaranteed with their land titles. But will this make Ibans instant overnight millionaires? Of course not. Business is always a risk, but the potential to reap huge rewards will be possible.
Once landowners are granted titles, they can sell their lands. This is how the Iban can become rich. By selling their lands. But if they are smart, they will not sell their lands. They will develop their lands. This is how they can become millionaires. They can invite oil-palm plantation giants like Samling and WTK to joint-venture with them on their own terms.
Currently, these oil-palm plantations call the shots and dictate to the Iban how much they get paid for renting their lands from them. That is because the Iban do not have bargaining power. They do not have bargaining power because Taib and Jabu refuse to grant the Iban land titles. So the Iban are no better than slaves on their own lands. Thanks to Taib and Jabu.
However, when Bian's Land Commission is set up, the Iban will have the solution to their land issues. And this is exactly what Taib and Jabu are afraid of. They are afraid that the Iban will finally realise how much economic and political power will lie in their own hands when they have titles to their lands.
Who owns the most tracks of lands in Sarawak? The Iban. Not the State. However, Taib used his Land Code to convert many native lands into State Land. Then he gave these State lands to Samling and WTK to plant oil-palm. So in actual fact the Iban are the largest landowners in Sarawak, not the State. But Taib changed it all. His BN YBs, including the Iban YBs, agreed to vote in the Land Code which stripped the Iban of their rights to their own lands. So now vast tracks of land previously owned by the Iban under the pemakai menoa and pulau galau have become State lands overnight for Taib to give away to his family, friends and cronies.
However, did you know that the High Court, the Appeals Court and the highest court in Malaysia, the Federal Court, disagreed with Taib? Yes, they disagreed with Taib and said that the Iban do indeed own their pemakai menoa and pulau galau. They said that the Land Code in Sarawak is misinterpreted by the Director of Lands & Survey. The landmark case of Nor anak Nyawai, which every lawyer in Malaysia knows, once and for all settled the issue and grants ownership of pemakai menoa and pulau galau to the Iban. Recently, the Hj Ramli Case further extended the same principle to coastal lands owned by Malays. But the State government still refuses to grant titles to these lands despite the court rulings.
Instead, the State government is stubbornly fighting the precedent created in the Nor Nyawai Case. It is fighting so that it can continue to rob the Iban of their lands, which has been recognised by the law since 2007!
So now that we have discovered that the courts and the laws of Malaysia do indeed recognise that the Iban own huge tracks of lands in Sarawak and that the Land Code enacted by Taib's Dewan Undangan Negeri is practically useless and has no legal standing, does this ownership of lands make the Iban instant overnight millionaires? No yet.
What will make Iban instant overnight millionaires is when Samling and WTK and all oil-palm giants surrender the lands leased to them by the State back to the original owners of the lands, with all the palm oil growing on these lands. All these oil palm will then be automatically owned by the Iban, as Samling and WTK would be recognised as trespassers on lands owned by the Iban. In common law, trespassers have no rights over their cultivate crops.
This ownership of hectares of oil palm planted by Samling and WTK and all the other oil-palm giants will revert back to the poor Iban and make them instant millionaires! Instant overnight millionaires by the stroke of a pen! Just like how Taib made himself and his family, friends and cronies instant overnight millionaires.
And who will have the authority to decide this with a stroke of the pen? The Land Commission promised by Baru Bian. Baru Bian's promise of a Land Commission is not just empty talk. He has put his words into action. The Star on Friday January 22, 2010, reported this: Oil palm firm told to return land to Ibans.
If we vote BN out and Pakatan Rakyat in, Baru Bian will have the political power to set up a Land Commission and then the Iban, Orang Ulu, Bidayuh, Malays and even urban Chinese will all become instant millionaires. With the stroke of a pen! It is now up to us to decide if we want to become instant millionaires or not.
You can be as rich as Jabu and Taib. All you have to do is vote Pakatan Rakyat (PKR, DAP, PAS or SNAP) and let Baru Bian set up a Land Commission when Pakatan Rakyat takes over the Sarawak government.
You see, the heading should have actually read, ‘Ibans will become instant millionaires if Pakatan Rakyat takes over Sarawak.’ But of course the editor of the Borneo Post cannot do that. If he did, he would suffer the same fate the editor of the New Sarawak Tribune suffered a few months ago and end up being reprimanded, suspended and worse still, sacked. In fact, we congratulate the editor of the Borneo Post for having the balls to even publish this news.
The reason we congratulate the Borneo Post for publishing this news is because the setting up of a Land Commission will have far reaching repercussions and consequences for Sarawak and the natives in particular. It will make many, if not all of them, millionaires overnight. Impossible? Not at all. Let's look at what Baru Bian has exactly in mind when he mooted the idea of the setting up of a Land Commission.
According to Bian, the commission will “investigate claims over issuance of land titles and also gazetted areas as the party (PKR) had all along been fighting for recognition of the rights.”
“We are offering in particular the rural folks of Sarawak a solution for their NCR issues. I've said this in the past and I am going to say it again. PKR is reiterating its stance on NCR matters. We are not only looking at natives in rural areas but also at urban Chinese and the Malays in the coastal areas as well.”
What exactly is Bian offering? Baru Bian is offering the setting up of a Land Commission. What is a Land Commission? A Land Commission is a special body set up by the State Government to look into matters and issues concerning land.
Will this body have the authority and power to act independently? Yes. All commissions do. That is why they are called commissions because they have been commissioned and empowered to do something about a problem.
If Bian is elected and Pakatan Rakyat takes over power in Sarawak and replaces the current BN government, we are promised a Land Commission. So how does this Land Commission benefit, in particular, the Dayak natives of Sarawak?
A Land Commission would survey whole areas of native customary lands in Sarawak. This is what PM Najib instructed Taib to do with the recent perimeter survey exercise. However, will the BN government go one step further and issue titles (pala tanah) for these surveyed lands? And who decides the garis menoa or boundaries of these lands? According to Bian, his Land Commission will not only survey the NCL but also have the power to grant titles to the NCL! This means that the pemakai menoa and pulau galau claimed by the Iban will be fully recognised by the Land Commission and titled. Within these boundaries, especially within temuda areas, individual titles will also be granted to individuals, not just communal titles.
If Bian's Land Commission will do this, then this will be the major break-through that will empower the Iban at long last. Ownership of their lands will be recognised and with titles, the Iban can finally go to banks and financial institutions to apply for loans with their land titles as collateral for mortgages. This means Iban will have the same opportunities as other communities to start their own business with seed money from bank loans guaranteed with their land titles. But will this make Ibans instant overnight millionaires? Of course not. Business is always a risk, but the potential to reap huge rewards will be possible.
Once landowners are granted titles, they can sell their lands. This is how the Iban can become rich. By selling their lands. But if they are smart, they will not sell their lands. They will develop their lands. This is how they can become millionaires. They can invite oil-palm plantation giants like Samling and WTK to joint-venture with them on their own terms.
Currently, these oil-palm plantations call the shots and dictate to the Iban how much they get paid for renting their lands from them. That is because the Iban do not have bargaining power. They do not have bargaining power because Taib and Jabu refuse to grant the Iban land titles. So the Iban are no better than slaves on their own lands. Thanks to Taib and Jabu.
However, when Bian's Land Commission is set up, the Iban will have the solution to their land issues. And this is exactly what Taib and Jabu are afraid of. They are afraid that the Iban will finally realise how much economic and political power will lie in their own hands when they have titles to their lands.
Who owns the most tracks of lands in Sarawak? The Iban. Not the State. However, Taib used his Land Code to convert many native lands into State Land. Then he gave these State lands to Samling and WTK to plant oil-palm. So in actual fact the Iban are the largest landowners in Sarawak, not the State. But Taib changed it all. His BN YBs, including the Iban YBs, agreed to vote in the Land Code which stripped the Iban of their rights to their own lands. So now vast tracks of land previously owned by the Iban under the pemakai menoa and pulau galau have become State lands overnight for Taib to give away to his family, friends and cronies.
However, did you know that the High Court, the Appeals Court and the highest court in Malaysia, the Federal Court, disagreed with Taib? Yes, they disagreed with Taib and said that the Iban do indeed own their pemakai menoa and pulau galau. They said that the Land Code in Sarawak is misinterpreted by the Director of Lands & Survey. The landmark case of Nor anak Nyawai, which every lawyer in Malaysia knows, once and for all settled the issue and grants ownership of pemakai menoa and pulau galau to the Iban. Recently, the Hj Ramli Case further extended the same principle to coastal lands owned by Malays. But the State government still refuses to grant titles to these lands despite the court rulings.
Instead, the State government is stubbornly fighting the precedent created in the Nor Nyawai Case. It is fighting so that it can continue to rob the Iban of their lands, which has been recognised by the law since 2007!
So now that we have discovered that the courts and the laws of Malaysia do indeed recognise that the Iban own huge tracks of lands in Sarawak and that the Land Code enacted by Taib's Dewan Undangan Negeri is practically useless and has no legal standing, does this ownership of lands make the Iban instant overnight millionaires? No yet.
What will make Iban instant overnight millionaires is when Samling and WTK and all oil-palm giants surrender the lands leased to them by the State back to the original owners of the lands, with all the palm oil growing on these lands. All these oil palm will then be automatically owned by the Iban, as Samling and WTK would be recognised as trespassers on lands owned by the Iban. In common law, trespassers have no rights over their cultivate crops.
This ownership of hectares of oil palm planted by Samling and WTK and all the other oil-palm giants will revert back to the poor Iban and make them instant millionaires! Instant overnight millionaires by the stroke of a pen! Just like how Taib made himself and his family, friends and cronies instant overnight millionaires.
And who will have the authority to decide this with a stroke of the pen? The Land Commission promised by Baru Bian. Baru Bian's promise of a Land Commission is not just empty talk. He has put his words into action. The Star on Friday January 22, 2010, reported this: Oil palm firm told to return land to Ibans.
If we vote BN out and Pakatan Rakyat in, Baru Bian will have the political power to set up a Land Commission and then the Iban, Orang Ulu, Bidayuh, Malays and even urban Chinese will all become instant millionaires. With the stroke of a pen! It is now up to us to decide if we want to become instant millionaires or not.
You can be as rich as Jabu and Taib. All you have to do is vote Pakatan Rakyat (PKR, DAP, PAS or SNAP) and let Baru Bian set up a Land Commission when Pakatan Rakyat takes over the Sarawak government.
14 comments:
Its not about the money. The money is only the bonus part if any. We just want what originally belong to us. Plain and simple, OUR NCR LANDS! We want our children and generations to come to inherit our fore-fathers lands. If we become millionaires when PR takes over the state, so be it. It has always been ours in the first palce before we were robbed off the riches of our lands and whatever was on it.
It was alleged that the Land Code stripped the Iban of their rights to their own land. In the first place, why did Iban ministers and state assemblymen supported the Land Code bill when it was tabled in the Dewan Undangan Negeri? Have they studied the pros and cons by supporting the bill? They should be blamed for that.
And I quote " The state government still refuses to grant these lands despite the court ruling." Is it that not tantamount to in contempt of court?
Taib said, the best solution to resolve NCR was to bring the landowners and community leaders in consultation to reach a compromise so that the land could be released for development. How is this to be done? Is Taib honest to say that?
The government also reassured the people it would provide free service to conduct perimeter survey of all communal lands under the NCR New Initiative. After the completion of survey works, the land would be gazetted as Native Communal Reserve under section 6 of the Sarawak Land Code. The gazette would be kept at the Land and Survey Department and District Office with a copy extended to head of their longhouse. The gazette itself would be a legal proof that the area had been surveyed and rightfully belongs to the community.
Can Iban takes these words or the BN government was just merely singing it to the people that are sweet to the ears?
I hope Bian did not say that - "instant millionaires"!
It's a misleading Newsman spin to catch attention for a fast buck.
Land is a natural resource that may be abused by just about anybody, regardless. Only meaningful use of natural resources in fair and just means will benefit owners and others.
Some people believe Land belongs to God but perhaps not in a blunt way. It might mean any abuse of the land in whatever way will pose dangers to human ecology and immidiately cause socio-economuc havoc.
Allow wisdom to prevail.
-ws-
The benefits of becoming millionaires should not be the primary concern at this time. Rather, it's whether the present Barisan Government is fair and sincere on land issues when dealing with the Dayaks and natives of Sarawak. My plain straight answer is a firm "NO". Not for the whole past 47 years since the formation of Malaysia. Meanwhile, they raped our forests and natural resources mainly at their expense. So go ahead and keep continue voting for Pek Moh, Jabu, Masing and all their cronies.The power is in YOUR HANDS. If you give them the overwhelming mandate to rule and govern, then do not squeal and cry like grandmothers. Do not blame them for our poverty. Blame ourselves and make them multi-millionaires many times over.
malsia1206
Taib Mahmud once again insulted the intelligence of Sibu voters by telling them that all alegations of corrupt practises and abuse of power against him as reported by Sarawak Report were not related to the personal wellbeing of every Sarawakians. Read here..
SIBU: Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud has adviced his people not to get emotionally carried away by groups and individuals who tried to “brainwash” and incite them to hate the government.
He said that it was vital that the people focus on the bread-and-butter issues.
“When you dwell on personal matters and think about things that are not related to your wellbeing, then you forget about the bread and butter issues like planning further development of the state and country,” he said.
Sarawak mulls curb on ‘unhealthy political practices’. What a laughing stock when it was the massive corruption practises of Taib Mahmud, George Chan and Alfred Jabu that were very unhealthy for the state coffer and the people of Sarawak who were neglected and deprived of due socio-economic development. Sarawakians especially those living in urban constituencies must not be foooled by such so called white paper by the corrupted regime of Taib Mahmud.
We must step up one gear and pressure Taib Mahmud to step down and for the MACC to investigate his ill gotten wealth. MoCS which has been more vocal in calling for Taib’s retirement should lodge a corruption report with MACC instead, to follow the cue from Ting Cheek Sii and Baru Bian.
We have to give Baru Bian the chance to set up the Land Commission to ensure the natives' ownership to their NCR land.
The present govt will proceed with the perimeter survey but I believe only a few will eventually get their land title.
In Semenanjung, we understand very well the corrupt practices of the umno led bn govt and their MCA, Gerakan, MIC, etc., running dogs who sell out their integrity and sould for profit. The Iban MPs that had sided with the Land Code are the same, and so is every MP who is aligned with Taib.
Sarawakians should awake and arise and vote against the people who are supposed to better their lives but are enriching themselves only.
Ooooooooha,sa dua tiga empat lima enam tujuh neh.Gayu guru meh bala kitai ke ngelala bansa diri empu,gerai nyamai meh bala kitai ke angkun serta nyaga bansa diri.Enda aku tulah laban aku ukai nyumpah lalu enda aku alah laban aku mantai ke penusah.Udah tu ila enda raja genali pansut ari bubuli nanga layar,enda sawa agi entepe batand rajang lalu enda agi antu ai mansut kediri ari sungai pakan raya,laban penyalah orang ke di tulung bala sida tu klalu udah nyata nyengenda.Udah tu ila badu agi kitai ninga ka raja bula,badu agi kitai merening raja donging laban kitai udah puas kepapa merinsa di bai sida.Naka ulih aku meh tu wai.
Hey!stop building castles in the air. Before anything happens first of all the Ibans must be taught to have the holding power. They must hold on to their land and wait for the right price to do any join venture. It's the Ibans themselves who are cheated by their own race.
I know of many Ibans who are used by the Malay lawyers to cheat the Natives of their land by offering 'good'price for their land and then sell it off to the chinese who use another native name as proxies.
It's the Ibans who conspire with others to steal the land. many natives land owner are just too desperate for the money and they can't wait to sell the land. Their thinking is this land is obtain free and they sell it fast and get another piece easily by illegaly occupying state land. many after selling their land stay together with relatives .
It's the mindset, not the land issue.
Yes, we need more Dayak lawyers such as Daneil Tajem, Baru Bian, Augustine Liom, Paul Raja, Peli Aaron and some more to be elected in the state assemblymen in helping to draft the Sarawak Land Code Bill so that Dayak can get back their land and become rich.
Do you know why the Land Code have been amended for several times and our present Dayak ministers and ADUNs blindly supported the bills? One of the reason is, they are not lawyers.
I heard it from someone that Taib does not like Dayak lawyers in DUN. How far it is true?
It's possible to become millionaire without selling the newly-titled NCR lands: by sewa/renting it out!
That's why land title is very, very important and a must-give by state govt without delay or fear. Here, BN playing fool with the Dayak in trying to get the title which is a their right but denied for so long. To put fear of the Dayak selling their lands is just hypocritical when some the BN agents such as penghulu to even YBs themselves act as land brokers/middle-men and once they bought the NCR lands for cheap they'll convert it as mixed zone land to fetch much bigger value later on. Buy cheap sell high.
PKR must spread the idea of sewa/rent out the titled NCR lands to any interested plantation developers and that is what it means to negotiate it on your own term, unlike now all lopsided deal by Salcra, LCDA and most of the crony developers seeking cheap NCR lands (zero land cost) and paying little dividends or none at all.
Those Konsep Baru (30pct Dayaks/ 60 pct cronies) by taib is grandeur delusion but with monthly fixed NCR land rentals, at least the Dayaks can get RM500 or RM1000 per hectre. What, Dayak cannot get easy money kah? Why the cronies, YBs always ger easy money? Wealth distribution ini macam kah?
Finally for Mr.Baru Bian, please stand at Padungan DUN seat. YB Dominic can contest the Batu Lintang DUN seat in exchange but at expense of DAP (YB Voon no lost at all anyway). With YB Lihan and YB Nelson surely planted firmly by BN to block Mr.Baru Bian, then Padungan seat highly feasible for PKR and Mr.Baru Bian to win.
God Bless PKR, Mr.Baru Bian. God DAMN BN!
Yes YES YES YES Mr.Baru Bian, please stand at Padungan DUN seat. You are great ! YB Dominic, helping Baru Bian elected will make the State better and you greater ! Please do
Implement the White paper at your own peril Taib ! Sarawakians are getting increasingly fed up at your mafia mentality. We know your white paper is a ploy to protect yourself from your political foes, NGOs and Media in exposing all your misdeeds.
Sarawakians know what to believe, how much to believe and what are the truth. No need for you to “protect” the peace and harmony enjoyed by all Sarawakians. Without you and with Pakatan ruling Sarawak, Sarawak will still be one of the most harmonious and peaceful state except that most of the Dayaks landowners will become instant millionaires.
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