Recognition of native rights more important than survey, says Baru

KUCHING: Sarawak PKR chairman Baru Bian has clarified that no specific allocation was set aside in Budget 2019 for land matters as they are not under the purview of the federal government.

Baru, who is also the works minister, said any allocation if given, is a bonus.

“I am amused at the fact that some people have been so quick to jump on this issue and point fingers at the federal government for not giving a specific allocation in the budget to conduct perimeter surveys for Native Customary Rights (NCR) land.

“Going by their criticisms, they are implying that the Pakatan Harapan government is not concerned about NCR and is not treating it as an important issue,” he said in a statement here today.

He said the issue of surveying NCR land was not as important to the people as the recognition of their rights to their land.

“This is because NCR exists whether it is surveyed or not – its existence does not arise from a survey. I maintain my stand that the state government has not fully recognised the NCR of the natives of Sarawak, notwithstanding the Land Code (Amendment) Act 2018 that was passed in July this year,” he said.

In the 2019 Budget, the federal government allocated RM 4.34 billion for Sarawak as development funds, an increase of RM10 million from the previous year.