KUCHING: Sarawak PKR Chief, Baru Bian said yesterday he expected fiery and active debate on the Land Code Amendment Bill to be tabled in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly on Tuesday. He said the draft of the Land Code Amendment Bill is not in line and not consistent with the decision of the court as far as the ‘Pemakai Menoa’ and ‘Pulau Galau’ are concerned. Baru, who is also Ba’Kelalan state assemblyman said because of that he will be participating in the debate on the Land Code Amendment bill and he will be strongly opposing it.
“Definitely, the Land Code Amendment bill will be something of interest. The draft is not in line and is not consistent with the decision of the court in as far as ‘Pemakai Menoa’ and ‘Pulau Galau’ are concerned. “And because of that, I believe I will be participating in the debate and we will of course strongly be opposing it and I will be stating my reasons and my grounds.
“It is very far from what we expected. I thought that that they will withdraw that draft. And I am also aware that there are a lot of objections raised by the various NGOs and the various parties on this. “And I thought these guys are quite well versed on the issue. They may not be lawyers but I think thisissues have been debated for quite sometimes now and I think the grounds and reasons for objecting to the proposed draft are quite valid.
“So we will wait on Tuesday, whether they will still proceed with it. If they do then you can expect a very fiery and active debate on the proposed amendment,” he said. Baru, who i s returning t o Sarawak for the first time since his appointment and sworn-in as Minister of Works a week ago was asked on the issue by the press at a media conference held at Grand Continental Hotel here, yesterday.
