The United PasokMomogun KadazanDusunMurut Organisation (Upko) wants the plight of forest dwellers in Sabah resolved via the issue of communal titles, on a priority basis, to the lands that they have occupied since time immemorial.

Alternatively, the party wants to know "what is the true solution" to the dilemma confronting these forest natives.

The grant of communal titles is at present confined to native customary land (NCR) outside forest reserves, including overlapping claims as well.

However, this approach has become hugely unpopular among natives who want individual titles which can be passed on to their children or otherwise used as collateral to raise seed money.

sabah natives bajau community 180509 03 These forest natives, according to Upko vice-president Siringan Gubat, are now living in constant fear of being dragged to court for trespass or having their houses torched by the Sabah Forest Department (SFD).

"There are many traditional villages which now find themselves trapped as part of forest reserves throughout Sabah," said Siringan who is also Ranau MP. "There are 15 traditional villages in forest reserves in Ranau itself."

He identified the villages as Kanawahon, Panulangon, Tinanom, Valu, Bundu Tuhan, Imbahan, Tegudon Lama, Ratau, Tinatasan, Toboh Lama, Nabutan, Nalapak, Sagundoi Baru, Sagundoi Lama and Matupang.

Bureaucratic tangle gets tighter

He was elaborating on a statement on the on-going tussle between the SFD and Kampung Kapulu residents in the Rundum Forest Reserve area in Kemabong.

The SFD is crying foul over alleged encroachment outside the traditional village and suspect that illegal immigrants are being used as labour.

The Ranau MP disclosed that he has done some exhaustive work as chairman of a BN committee set up to identify villages located within forest reserves in his constituency and the size of the land that needed to be excised as communal title land.

He's willing to make the information available to the SFD, the LSD and other state government authorities concerned. The villages concerned cover the forest reserves in Trus Madi, Tenompok and Ulu Tungud.

sabah natives bajau community 180509 01 Siringan warned that the state government's failure to address all issues facing forest dwellers in Sabah will create a negative impression of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) among the people.

"This issue can no longer be swept under the carpet."

He urged the SFD to work together with the Land and Survey Department (LSD) and the state government to bring an end to the "sufferings of the forest dwellers".

The state government giving "vague" assurances that the forest natives can remain where they are now is not good enough, opines Siringan. "Issues with the law crop up from time to time for the forest natives. The end result is fear and misery for these unfortunate people."

Solution for problem cited

He pointed out that communal titles will clearly demarcate the boundary between traditional villages and the forest reserves proper.

It would also make any encroachment, whether by the forest natives or outsiders, easier to monitor and facilitate the enforcement work of the authorities concerned.

He cited the case of three villagers of Kampung Sagundoi Baru in the Ulu Tungud Forest Reserve who were recently fined RM 18,000 each for opening up village land within the forest reserve.

The villagers had pleaded in defence that the boundary of the forest reserve kept changing all the time, getting closer and closer to their homes all the time, but to no avail.

The court ,however ,reduced the fines to RM3,000 each after learning that their lawyer had forced them to plead guilty, according to Siringan.

It's learnt that in the absence of communal titles, natives in forest reserves can fall back on a state cabinet decision of Aug, 18, 1998 on their status.

The state cabinet resolved that all traditional villages in forest reserves can remain if opened up and or explored before 1998 but no individual titles would be issued to such land and there should be no opening up of new land i.e. after the cut-off date.

Siringan concedes that the state cabinet decision of 1998 was a good one "but the SFD is going off on a tangent on its own". He cites Kampung Kapulu in the Rundum Forest Reserve as a case in point.

The SFD was not immediately available for comments.