Wong sing Nang webpage

Tuan Speaker: Honourable Member for Pelawan.
Encik Wong Sing Nang: Tuan Speaker, I rise to take part, and to make some observations on the Land Code (Amendment) Bill, 1996. Firstly, Tuan Speaker, the amendment to this section of the principal ordinance is very, very important as it lays out, as the Minister had said, the procedure of extinguishment of NCR land. It is a very sensitive issue when the NCL or NCR land is debated in this House or in the newspapers. And, I believe a lot of the people have the very wrong concept of NCR land. It is a bare licence given to the people who use the land and which might can be extinguished. This Amendment Bill is therefore to clarify the procedure for extinguishment of such right which under the old Section 5, is very ambiguous and very vague.

If the government wants to acquire the land under the NCL, under the old Section 5 of the Land Code, the procedure is not detailed enough for the parties affected to claim for compensation. So, with this new amendment to the Section 5 and 4, a very clear procedure is provided for parties affected to make their claims under Section 3(b) and (c) and even Sub-Section 4. Of course, a word of caution is necessary here. I fully agree with the Ahli Yang Berhormat for Ngemah that a notice in the newspapers or in the gazette is insufficient as not many people from the ulu areas affected have the opportunity to know whether their area has been gazetted or that the notice has been advertised in the newspapers. So, I fully agree with the Ahli Yang Berhormat for Ngemah that the notice can best be affected by serving it on the people affected through their Tuai Rumah or the Penghulu or the Pemanca of the area. This will prevent any suspicion that we are acquiring their lands without giving them adequate notice so as to enable them to file in their proper claims under the amended Sections 5(iii) and 5(iv).

Regarding the new Section 5 to amend Section 10 of the Principal Ordinance by substituting ?District Officer? with the words ?Superintendent? and ?Resident? with the word ?Director?, I think this is again to keep in touch with our Politics of Development to enable the roles played by the Resident and the District Officer to be gradually transferred to the Superintendent and the Director of Lands and Surveys. The ?District Officer? and the ?Resident? as rightly pointed out by the Minister mentioned in the Sarawak Land Code were titles given sometimes in 1956 and the Land Code is 1958, there is a transitional Colonial period, I therefore fully support the proposal to substitute the terms ?Resident? and ?District Officer? with ?Director? and the ?Superintendent? in the new Section 5 of Land Code (Amendment) Bill.

And lastly, Tuan Speaker, in respect of the notice which I mentioned earlier on it is the same as in the case of the Forests (Amendment) Bill which was debated in this House on Monday afternoon. I suggest the notice if possible be not only advertised or gazetted in the papers but also be more effectively distributed to all the affected areas.

We are now no longer living in the 50?s or 60?s when it would be quite difficult or even impossible to go to the ulu areas without taking a few days, with the advent of better road communication
system within every constituency. I believe the Ahli Yang Berhormat for all constituencies can now play a more effective role in administration by conveying the message to the people affected and in good time so that no one will suspect that we are taking over
their lands without notice and that no one will complain later that their rights over their NCR lands have been extinguished without them being notified. I have received complaints on this issue and I believe so have a lot of other Ahli Yang Berhormat and to avoid their recurrence in the future I therefore hope that all Ahli Yang Berhormat will now take step to effect notice to the affected community or kawasan.

Thank you, Tuan Speaker.