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KOTA KINABALU: Tuaran MP Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau has called on the Sabah government to increase staffing for the Native Land Services Management Programme (PANTAS) under the Land and Survey Department (JTU).

He noted a drop in manpower—from 60 to 40 in survey teams, and from 8 to 3 in documentation staff—hampering effective implementation.

This shortfall, he said, has prevented full utilization of the RM100 million federal allocation under the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021–2025), with only RM68 million spent so far.

Speaking at a PANTAS dialogue in Kg. Lokos, Madius emphasized the programme’s importance in issuing land grants to native Sabahans, which has benefited over 84,000 landowners across 484,025 acres since 2011.

He stressed that without adequate staffing, ongoing efforts and federal support may go to waste.