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Kota Kinabalu: PAS Sabah Deputy Commissioner Hamzah Abdullah claims Sabah natives lost vast areas of their ancestral lands due to "natives with political power in government". "I cite a classic example of Kg Karamunting in Sandakan which existed right from the pre-independence days but had been wiped out from the map and replaced by the expansion of Sandakan port," he said.

In a statement here, he said promises to relocate the kampung inhabited by natives to Mile 4, along the Sibuga Road, were never honoured.

It had been 18 years since the promise was made in 1992, the natives in Karamunting witnessed not just their village vanishing but the whole area consisting of Karamunting Lama, Kampung Lupak Meluas and nearby villages.

"Who is to blame for this? Aren't those in power natives themselves?" he asked. Hamzah also said the emergence of fake Anak Negeri is a threat to the decline in land areas owned by genuine natives.

"Again, the native leaders are the real traitors by simply endorsing and issuing letters certifying their dubious status in return for monetary gain."

"Tan Sri Harris Salleh's disclosure of close to one million acres alienated to landless smallholders during the Berjaya era, most of whom are natives, but later revoked and given to big companies during PBS under then Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, spoke for itself the act of betrayal," he said.