BINTULU: The Sarawak Government continues to strengthen efforts to recognise and safeguard Native Customary Land Rights (NCR) through the implementation of a survey programme based on valid evidence and legal provisions.

Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said that the government not only recognises NCR land, but also carries out systematic measurement work to ensure that the rights of land owners continue to be preserved.

"The traditional village surveying programme and NCR land surveying through a new initiative is an ongoing programme of the government and will be implemented as long as it is needed because the government is committed to the welfare of the community,” he said.

He said this while speaking at the Land Title Deed Submission Ceremony under Section 18 of the Sarawak Land Code and the Temporary Occupancy License (TOL) for the Bintulu area at the BDA Auditorium, Wisma Bintulu on Monday.

According to him, since the new NCR initiative was introduced in 2010, more than 1.238 million hectares of NCR land has been successfully measured throughout Sarawak, while nearly 967,000 hectares have been gazetted under Section 6 of the Sarawak Land Code.

Datuk Amar Awang Tengah said, the achievement far exceeds the land area that was successfully measured before 2010, thus reflecting the effectiveness of the government's new approach in speeding up the native customary land measurement process.

He explained that land surveying is conducted based on the owner's application, valid evidence and the process of engaging with the community to avoid boundary disputes and ensure the rights of all parties are preserved.

In this regard, he called on the people to cooperate with the Land and Survey Department throughout the surveying process to enable more owners to obtain their respective land titles.

Also present was Minister for Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom, Minister in the Sarawak Premier's Department Dato Sri John Sikie Tayai, Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Port Development Datuk Majang Renggi, Murum Assemblyman Kennedy Chukpai Ugon and Jepak Assemblyman Iskandar Turkee. -UKASnews