They claimed that the government had acquired their NCR land for the proposed Bau Government Institutional Zone in 1998 and there are more than 100 claimants on that piece of land.
“The land was surveyed in 1998 with more than 100 field lots on it. However until now the proposed project never took off the ground and
the compensation was also never being paid to us.
“We also discovered that the land has been converted to state land, and we are obviously being deprived of our rights over the land,” said chairman of Kampung Grogo Task Force Land Committee, Majen Minos (pic).
As compensation has not been paid to them, the affected landowners are requesting the government to return back the land to them.
“We have been waiting patiently for so many years but the compensation has never being paid to us and the proposed project is still not being implemented. Now we want the land to be returned to us,” said Majen.
Majen also described Assistant Minister of Environment Datuk Peter Nansian Ngusie’s statement in a local newpapers recently that up to 4,000 land titles will been given out in Tasik Biru constituency as totally not true.
“We do not know which land of ours will be given the title because what we knew our land along the junction of Opar/Kampung Grogo was acquired and converted to state land.
“Does he mean titles for our land surveyed by the Land and Survey Department two years ago under the Program Kampung Tradisi (Traditional Village Programme)?” Majen asked.
Under the programme each lot are allocated a maximum of 50 points.
“If that was the land he meant how come we still haven’t receive the titles?” Majen further asked.
Nansian was reported as saying that between 3,000 to 4,000 NCR land titles will be issued to Native Customary Rights (NCR) landowners from the five villages in Tasik Biru constituency this year.
The Tasik Biru State Assemblyman said the issuance of the land titles was following the completion of NCR land perimeter survey work on the villages of Sibuluh, Grogo, Stass, Serikin and Sekibang.
“But if the titles is for the Traditional Village Lots than why my friends from Kampung Skibang said their land has yet to be survey for kampung lots,” said Majen.
Nansian had said the titles would be handed over to the landowners very soon.
Majen regretted that Nansian had confused the people with such statement.
“We have written a letter to the Superintendent of Land and Survey Kuching Division but never received any response.
“I also met Nansian in July last year with regard to the matter but was told by the later that the land owners had surrendered their land and compensation will be paid when the government decided to use the land,” Majen said.
He said if it was true as what Nansian said that the villagers had surrendered their land to the government then they should be paid compensation.
“Instead we were shocked to know that the land has been converted to state land,” he added.
Majen also showed the newspaper cutting of a local newspaper dated May 15, 2009 under the headline “Homeless eagerly waiting for resettlement scheme” which reported Nansian as requesting the government to commence work on the proposed Bau Town extension project, which was to be sited at an area identified by the government 10 years ago at Opar road junction.
He said the people there were eagerly looking forward to the project completion, which could mean better building and facilities for the District Office, District Council and other government departments unlike the constraint space in the present town area.
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