Close Window
23/10/2011: 
No more land clearing by force before amicable soulution sought, Tiong said in his longhouse visit

 
_
    *My Longhouses along Segan River and Silas River on October 23 2011

BINTULU (Oct 23, 2011): Bintulu MP Dato’ Seri Tiong King Sing alledged there were companies sending their workers into the native land in his constituency to clear land for planting and felling logs.

In his visit today to the longhouses, Tiong, who is also the chairman of BN Back benchers’ Club, said residents flooded to him with complaints of native land violations.

He said he understood their pleas because land was priceless to the natives, and possessing land meant they had a livelihood to fall back on.

“In one complaint, the residents of Egoh longhouse said the intruders turned a deaf ear to their protests. They said these workers even drove in their tractors. They believe some of these workers are carrying out illegal logging.”

Tiong said plantation investors and developers who came across protests from the natives should halt their operation to avoid untoward incidents.

He said if they were met with the protests, they should move on to develop land elsewhere, or get the Resident, District Officer, the Land and Survey officers or community leaders to mediate for them towards a win-win situation.

“No one should trespass the land that the natives are toiling. At times, the developers should put themselves in the shoes of these farmers to understand the graveness of the situation.”

He said if there were allegations of land intrution for illegal planting or log felling, he would get the assistants of his service centre to look into them, “but, the native land onwers must lodge their complaints with the Land and Survey and the Forestry Department first”.

He said if the complaints were genuine, the offenders would definitely face the music.

The Bintulu MP said if longhouse communities wanted to have their native land and Native Rights Customery land surveyed, they should apply with the Land and Survey Department.

He assured his service centre would follow up with the matter.

Some longhouse residents felt the government should let native farmers have their land titles so that they would not be harmed by the developers and plantation developers because this was their livelihood.

The residents hoped they could also receive oil palm seedlings because each of these would cost between RM13 and RM15 each and was too costly for them.