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Addressing land issues PDF Print E-mail
Tuesday, 05 July 2011 21:47

KOTA KINABALU: The delay in processing land applications continues to be among the main grouses raised at the Sabah leg of preliminary inquiries by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).

Suhakam commissoner Jannie Lasimbang said many villagers who complained about the amount of time taken to process their applications found out that the land they had applied for had been given to others including large plantation companies.
“In one case, an individual who had settled on a piece of land in the Kinabatangan district in the 1960s found out that the land he had applied for had been given to someone else,” she said during the inquiries.

The exercise by Suhakam began on June 17 in the interior Keningau district and was also held in Penampang, Kota Marudu, Tawau and Sandakan.

Lasimbang said the Suhakam panel received around 30 complaints from 147 people who came to Sibuga, some 8km from Sandakan, yesterday.

“We hope for a high turnout on the last day of our consultation today as we have previously received many complaints from places like Beluran,’’ she added.

The consultations in Sandakan are also open to those from nearby districts such as Kinabatangan and Tongod.

After Sabah, Suhakam is scheduled to hold similar preliminary inquiries in the peninsula and Sara­wak.

Suhakam had said the consultations were held due to the number of complaints the commission had received about violations relating to native customary rights land.