Miri Bumiputera business community lauds CM’s stand on protecting Malay land rights
MIRI: The Bumiputera business community here lauds Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg on introducing strategic measures to help preserve Malay land in Kuching.
Sarawak Bumiputera Chamber of Entrepreneurs ( DUBS) Miri chairman Abdul Samat Ali said his chapter fully supported the chief minister’s stand on protecting Malay land in the state capital.
“We support the CM’s move to safeguard the interests of the Malays in Sarawak, in view of the scenario where a number of land lots in the urban areas land previously owned by this community have either been sold off or taken away,” Abdul Samat told The Borneo Post yesterday, in response to the issue which was published on this newspaper on Saturday.
For him, it was sad to see a high percentage of Malays having lost their land since the 1970s.
“I believe this is what prompted the CM to highlight the matter, which is very timely.
“However, I also acknowledge that it is the right of a Malay to sell off his land to a third party,” he said.
Abdul Samat then pointed out the Kabor shophouses along Jalan Permaisuri, the shoplots along Jalan Bendahari and the land along Jalan Bakam here – known as the ‘Golden Mile’ in the 1970s – as typical examples of such a scenario.
“Today, only a handful of these properties still belong to their original owners.”
Abdul Samat suggested that as a start, there could be a ‘no deal clause’ when it came to native land for the Malays – that any sale or lease transaction could only be done between Malays.
“It’s a good move – better late than never. Still, the most important thing is for the Malays to never part from their land; to hold on to it for the sake of their next generations,” he added.
Sharing the same view, Miri Bumiputera Entrepreneurs Association of Sarawak ( PBMS) vice-president Talhah Mansor believed that it was Abang Johari’s vision to see the Malays as part of the urban community in Sarawak.
He also agreed with the chief minister’s call for the Malay land rights to receive the same attention as that given to Native Customary Rights ( NCR) land.
“CM Abang Johari is looking after the interests of all native communities in Sarawak, including the Malays.
“In stating this, if the Malay land across the urban areas in Sarawak is not protected, there would be no land for the community in the next decade. It is a far- sighted move – one that takes into account the second and third generations of the Malays.”
In his opening remarks for the foundation-laying ceremony of the Hikmah Exchange project in Kuching late last week, Abang Johari said he had been observing that quite a number of land plots across the state capital had registered a change in ownership from Malays to those from other ethnic groups.
The chief minister stressed that while the state government had been issuing titles for NCR land to the natives across Sarawak, the Malay land rights must not be overlooked.
“I am not being racial – I just want to be fair to all races. We have been issuing NCR land titles to the natives, so we must also defend the land rights of the Malays especially the land across this city,” Abang Johari said in his speech.