Suhakam praises State Govt

Ranau: The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) praised the State Government for taking positive steps to ensure that the natives have access to land ownership through the issuance of both Native Titles under the Pantas scheme and Community Titles. In particular, Suhakam believes the communal title concept can resolve duplication of land application and preserve the rights of the natives by stopping them from selling land to outsiders.

Aside from these, the commissioned learnt that it is aimed at decreasing poverty rate among communities through sustainable development on the land.

As of 30 September this year, 72 communal titles had been established involving 119,083.03 acres in 12 districts and have benefited 213 villages or 10,462 Sabah natives.

The commission had on Wednesday held a "Suhakam Bersama Masyarakat Kampung Maukab Ranau" in collaboration with the Ranau District Office and Sabah Land and Survey Department which objective was to gather more information about the communal title and Perkhidmatan Tanah Anak Negeri (Pantas) programme initiated by the department.

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PANTAS aims to settle areas that have Native Customary Rights (NCR) by issuing a fast track land title.

Until now, a total of 509 land lots have been measured and out of it, 208 have been processed and approved by Pantas Special Committee.

Suhakam, in a statement, acknowledged that the department has taken care to ensure that its effort is guided by the principle of human rights-based approach and principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) as enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

Article 26 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) states that indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired, and that States shall give legal recognition and protection to these.

In Sabah, 39 ethnic groups make up 61.22 per cent of the state's local population.

Sabah Land Ordinance No. 10 of 1930 is the main legislation governing land matter in Sabah.

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Section 15 defines native customary rights. The commission acknowledged the positive impact resulting from the initiative judging from the number of decreasing number of complaints it has received.

It disclosed that in 2016, there were only 35 complaints received concerning NCR as compared with 141 in 2012.

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