Uggah (third left) presenting grant to one of the recipients of the Prime Minister’s special grant for Marudi constituency while (from left) Agriculture Department director Datu Lai SKui Fong, Assistant Minister of Local Government and Marudi assemblyman Datu Dr Penguang Manggil, Assistant Minister of Agriculture Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail and others look on.

BELURU: The Pemakai Menoa and Pulau Galau (PMPG) Committee will be briefing Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg soon on its findings for a solution to amicably resolve issues surrounding the two categories of land.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development, said this when officiating at the ‘Talian Tani’ programme for Marudi constituency at Beluru community hall yesterday.

“I will brief the chief minister very soon, and that is a step forward,” he said, without giving any specific date.
Acknowledging that land owners might be apprehensive on the status of their land, he urged them to be patient.
Uggah has been appointed chairman of the Pemakai Menoa and Pulau Galau Committee, formed under the instruction of the Chief Minister to find ways to resolve the controversial issues concerning the two land categories.

The committee is tasked with undertaking in-depth studies on cultures, practices, definition, history and all other factors relating to Pemakai Menoa and Pulau Galau.
Among members of the committee are representatives from the Attorney-General’s Office and Majlis Adat Istiadat.

Uggah announced in February this year that once the findings were done, he would present them to the Chief Minister who did not set any time frame.

He had earlier this year disclosed that he had met up with Dr Charlie Dudang to receive feedback on the Jan 7 Native Customary Rights Land Forum.

In December last year, the Federal Court ruled that the native custom of ‘pemakai menoa’ (territorial domain) and ‘pulau galau’ (communal forest reserve) had no force of law in Sarawak.

In a three-to-one decision, the apex court allowed the appeal by the state government and set aside the orders of the Court of Appeal and High Court that recognised native customary rights (NCR) over ‘pemakai menoa’ and ‘pulau galau’.

The respondents in the case were Tuai Rumah Sandah Tabau of Rumah Sandah in Ulu Machan, Kanowit and eight other NCR landowners.

They claimed that they had customary rights over 2,712 hectares of ‘pemakai menoa’.

Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Md Raus Shariff who led the three-member panel hearing the appeal explained that although the common law recognised unregistered native customs, the state statutes and orders or proclamation made by the Rajahs and subsequently by the legislature of Sarawak did not appear to have recognised the custom or ‘adat’ of ‘pemakai menoa’ and ‘pulau galau’.