Victims of land-grabs pin hope in a lawyer

Sangkong (centre) flanked native vice chief Mudat Majupi (left)
and Ketua Kampung, Mogak Majupi explaining their predicament.

KOTA KINABALU : Families who were served with court notice late last year to move out in one month of "their" lands in Kampung Tangkarason, Beluran now pin their hope that the plantation company involved and the court would "grant" some mercy on them, knowing there is no where to go after this.

Leader of the group, Nulius Sangkong, 34, who managed to get court order for a stay said they never dreamed that this could happen to them as natives of Sabah after toiling the lands and living there since 1980s.

"We were even helped by the state rubber industry board (LIGS) in a rubber plantation programme in the area in 1998, and suddenly we were told this land belong to a Malacca company.

"In fact we have applied for the land in 1987 which involved 194 applications over a 1,000 acres for settlement and agricultural but no positive answer. Then last year we learned that a Malacca company with perhaps links to politicians there was granted a land of 20,000 hectares in Sugut.

How could this be allowed to happen on natives if the government cares about our well-being?" Sangkong said at a follow-up meeting with their lawyer Peter Marajin at his legal firm office in Damai, Luyang here Monday.

Peter Marajin (centre) listening to Sangkong during a briefing
at his office in Luyang, surrounded by the land-grab victims.

A native vice chief from Tangakarason, Mudat Majupi, 60, said at the meeting the state government be considerate o its people first furthermore the kampungs folks only applied for a few hectares of land, unlike companies with links, tens of thousands of hectares and granted easily and speedily.

His brother Mogak, 58, who is the Ketua Kampung of Tangkarason, said he was perplexed by their situation as it is the norm and rule that native customary rights (NCR) over lands are obtained as soon as minimum three years of natives establishing settlement on any state land.

NCR was an old law erected by the colonial British in recognition of the natives of Sabah, in olden days clearly and easily figured out to be either among the Dusuns, Muruts or Bajaus ethnic groups.