Govt out to make Ibans ‘scavengers’?

The government's perimeter surveys of NCR land will leave Ibans landless because once surveyed under Section 6 of the Land Code, the plot will be classified as communal reserve.

KUCHING: Thousands of natives in Sarawak stand to lose their longhouses and dignity if the state government continues to carry out perimeter survey of their respective native customary rights (NCR) land.

Warning fellow natives, Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia) which has been in the forefront in fighting for NCR rights over their ancestral land said thousands of longhouses in Sarawak may disappear if the the process continues.

“What we worry is that if the government continues to carry out a parameter survey of NCR land under Section 6 of the Sarawak Land code, the government is actually extinguishing the rights of the natives over their land.

“If this happens, the Ibans in particular will become landless because the government has turned the land into communal reserve land.

“Any time the government wants the land, it can alienate to anyone,” said Sadia president Sidi Munan.

Since the perimeter survey started in 2010, hundreds of thousands of hectares of NCR land have been surveyed and converted into native communal reserve land.

There are more than 1.5 million hectares of NCR land in the state.

On top of that, thousands of hectares of NCR land are being encroached upon by plantation companies and other commercial entities.

Said Sidi: “When the Ibans become landless, they cannot carry out their farming activities anymore. They have become squatters in their own land.

“There are cases where they have been chased away from their land and their longhouses demolished.

“Where do they go from here?” he said when asked by FMT to elaborate further on his statement on urban poor made at a Sadia dinner on Saturday night.

Social problems

According to Sidi, majority of the landless Ibans had migrated to big cities and towns, and some went to other states like Johor in search of employment.

“Their longhouses are gradually abandoned. Now there is the real possibility that Iban longhouse will disappear in the future as more of them migrate to the towns.

“But I must warn you that their migration to towns will create more social problems such as prostitution, crimes, gangsterism and urban poverty.

“It is a common sight to see some of them becoming scavengers.

“This is because they lack the necessary skills,” he said adding that Sadia and Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU) were willing to cooperate with any organisation or individuals who ‘championed the poor and needy’.

He said that Kuching Society for Urban Poor (SKUP) and Green Ribbon Association were doing a good job to assist squatters and the poor in Kuching.