(Kuching, 20th) As of October 31 this year, a total of 93,222 independent lots have been successfully surveyed, involving an area of 112,021 hectares or 276,804 acres of land. These lands have been and will be granted land ownership titles in accordance with Section 18 of the Sarawak Land Code.
Deputy Premier of Sarawak, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah, stated that the government consistently ensures adequate funding for the new initiative Native Customary Rights (NCR) land surveying program.
He mentioned that in 2024, an allocation of RM19 million has been received in phases from the federal government.
“The Sarawak government will continue to request funds from the federal government and is prepared to increase funding for the implementation of this program.”
Awang Tengah, who is also the Minister of Natural Resources and Urban Development, disclosed this during his department’s summary in the Sarawak State Assembly today.
He added that to enhance the surveying capacity under the program, the Sarawak government approved the recruitment of 467 new officers of various categories for the Sarawak Land and Survey Department in 2019.
Meanwhile, he mentioned that certified private surveyors' services were also used to enhance the surveying capability of the program.
“Since the implementation of the program, a total of 37 project areas have been surveyed by certified private surveyors. Among them, 29 areas involved perimeter surveys (Phase 1) from 2015 to 2024, covering an area of about 181,131 hectares or 447,575 acres.
“A total of eight areas involved the survey of individual lots (Phase 2), covering an area of approximately 1,803 hectares or 4,455 acres.”
On the other hand, he also disclosed that from 2010 to October 31, 2024, a total of 1,168,123 hectares or 2,886,432 acres of land perimeter was successfully surveyed through the new initiative NCR land surveying program.
Awang Tengah stated that approximately 924,596 hectares or 2,284,677 acres of the area has been gazetted as Native Community Reserves (Agriculture) in accordance with Section 6 of the Sarawak Land Code.
According to him, this surveying work is carried out at the request of the relevant parties.
“To expedite the surveying process of NCR lands, land claimants should be present during on-site surveys, clearly mark their land boundaries, and avoid disputes during claims to ensure smoother surveying.”
He added that new initiative NCR land perimeter surveys involving Malaysia and Brunei international border areas require careful examination.
This is because he emphasized that the process of determining the international borders of certain areas has not been finalized.