Shafie (seated, centre) with the recipients of native titles from Kudat. Also seen is Land and Survey Department director Bernard Liew Chau Min (third right).
KUDAT: Declassification of first-class forest reserves for the purpose of deforestation was the root cause of the long wait for native titles to be awarded to its rightful owners.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Mohd Shafie Apdal said first-class forest reserves were declassified to allow deforestation during the previous administration, which resulted in native land being declared as forest reserves to meet the percentage of forest reserve land required by the state.
“There is a certain percentage of forest reserve land that must be met in the state. In order to meet this percentage, native land was declared as forest reserves while first-class reserves were declassified for deforestation.
“This is why it has taken decades, in some cases half a century, for rightful owners to be awarded with native titles. This is what happened to some villages in Tongod, Ranau and Kota Marudu,” said Shafie.
These actions have stunted the development of affected communities, he added, and deprived villages which have existed for generations of its rightful native title.
Shafie said this after presenting 399 native title grants to owners from 121 villages throughout the district, encompassing 2,142.10 acres of land.
The villagers were from Kampung Andap, Kampung Indarason, Kampung Terongkongan, Kampung Tiga Papan, Kampung Pata, Kampung Timug, Kampung Padang, Kampung Sungai Pupu and Kampung Pinampang in Pulau Banggi, Tanjung Kapur and Matunggung.
“We do not only want to award them with native titles, but also gazette the villages. Those which were previously declared state reserve land have since been abolished to be gazetted as villages, to complete native land ownership.
“The state government through the Ministry of Agriculture Development and Food Industry has also taken the initiative to develop native land by providing seeds to encourage cultivation of crops and commodities, such as durian, pomelo and pineapple.
“These crops are of high quality and value, on par with international standards. They are good enough to be sold not only in the country but internationally as exported goods,” Shafie added.
He further said the state government had identified a few lots of temporary occupation licence (TOL) coastal land, namely from Kudat to Semporna, Merotai and Kunak, for fish cultivation.
This would not only stimulate local economy, but encourage youths to return and cultivate their homeland as well.
“These TOL lots are suitable for fish cultivation, which could be an incentive for youths to come back and work in their hometown. Cultivating a fish farm nearer to the shore would be more profitable and safer as well, as fishermen would not need to fish in the open sea.
“Fishing in the open would incur more costs in terms of logistics, such as fishing boat, diesel and fishing trawl, and there is also a risk of kidnapping,” Shafie elaborated.