Sarawak native rights advocates have slammed an assistant minister for discouraging them from going to court to stake their claim over Native Customary Rights (NCR) land.

Sarawak Assistant Minister of Public health and Utilities Dr Stephen Rundi's statement shows that government figures are not serious about "respecting and recognising" native communities' right to their customary land and resources, said the Sarawak Native Customary Land Rights Network (Tahabas).

For this reason, they continue to make statements aimed at confusing the natives about their rights for their own selfish political agenda, said Tahabas president Romuald Siew.

Siew was responding to Rundi's remarks in the Borneo Post where he was reported to have said that claims for NCR done through the courts would only benefit lawyers and that the best solution for the natives that involves minimal cost is to apply to the government to get NCR recognition.

The natives have tried time and again to get the government to recognise and respect NCR, but for the most part these efforts have not been addressed seriously, said Siew.

Given such a stance, it is only right that natives seek redress for their NCR land problems in the courts of law as a last resort.

"We have tried all the possible officials channels including writing numerous letters, petitions and memorandums to get the state government to solve our land disputes and to get recognition and respect for our NCR.

"Some communities even did direct actions such as erecting blockades on their land or demonstrating peacefully, but until today, the government (has) either ignored us or dismissed our claims," said Siew in a statement.

"Now, where can the poor community seek redress for their NCR land problems? Of course, they have no choice but to engage a lawyer in order to seek redress through the legal channels."It is time consuming and costly for the natives, but what choice do they have when the government has not only refused to entertain their claims but keeps on arbitrarily issuing provisional leases to the big companies over their NCR land," he added.

Recognise communal land boundaries

Another NGO, the Borneo Resources Institute (Brimas) also called for the government to recognise communal land boundaries by gazetting those contained in the Register of Land Boundaries' kept in the Marudi district office.

"As for areas where the communal land boundaries are yet to be recorded, the government should make its own efforts to go to the ground and assist the natives to record and gazette their boundaries.

"Since the courts have already decided that the communal land boundaries of the NCR lands of the natives is based on or defined by the ‘natar' or ‘garis menoa' of their longhouses, the government should therefore comply with the said decisions by the courts and immediately conduct joint ground surveys with the natives to identify and then gazette the communal land boundaries of their longhouses," said Brimas executive director Mark Bujang.