KUCHING: Landowners who have their land titles issued under Section 18 of the Sarawak Land Code (SLC) have been advised to continue to protect their land.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said landowners particularly in Kampung Rantau Panjang should not sell their land once they got the titles, but instead should protect them for their future generation.
“In view of Kuching city is expanding, and if we sell the land, where are we supposed to go after that?
“Yes, the Sarawak government does provide affordable housing and other housing assistance, but it is important that the landowners continue to protect their land which have titles,” he said.
Awang Tengah (second left) handing over the land title to Darot Kadri (second right) witnessed by from left political secretary to Chief Minister Tan Kai representing Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian, Sarawak Land and Survey assistant director Unus Tambi and Sarawak Land and Survey superintendent Alfian Bawi (right). Photo: Ramidi Subari 
Awang Tengah (second left) handing over the land title to Sedek Tossen (second right) witnessed by from left political secretary to Chief Minister Tan Kai representing Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian, Sarawak Land and Survey assistant director Unus Tambi and Sarawak Land and Survey superintendent Alfian Bawi (right). Photo: Ramidi Subari
Earlier, Awang Tengah had handed 221 land titles under Section 18 of the SLC to 206 landowners from Kampung Rantau Panjang, Batu Kawa at Sumiran Eco Park’s Hall on Monday (Nov 2).
He added that under Section 18 of the SLC, land owners do not need to pay land premium and the lease is permanent.
“Sarawak government always recognises and defend the rights of Bumiputeras over their native customary rights (NCR) land. We are committed and will continue to help the landowners to get their land titles,” he said.
He said to hasten the survey process, a new survey initiative was introduced in 2010 and carried out in two steps, that is, first the perimeter surveys followed by gazettement under Section 6, while the second step is surveys of individual lots for the issuance of land titles under Section 18.
“Since the implementation of the state government’s survey initiative in 2010 until today, a total of 943,926 hectares of NCR land have been surveyed, and of the total, 753,456 hectares had been gazetted.
“For the Traditional Village Land Survey Programme, it is still going on. So far, a total of 55,849 individual lots in 360 villages throughout Sarawak have also been surveyed, and a total of 50,517 lots have been given titles,” he said.
He added that the success of the survey was the result of cooperation between the landowners and the Land and Survey Department.
“Therefore, I call upon the community leaders and village chiefs to work with landowners on the lands that have yet to be surveyed under the Traditional Village Land Survey Programme.
“We won’t just come in to do the survey. It must be based on application and agreement,” he said adding that Sarawak government has allocated RM40 million this year to continue the survey works.
