The Barisan Nasional (BN) must continue to pursue the resolution on native land claim, said Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Maximus Ongkili.     

He said, while the Kota Marudu district was on its way to resolving its longstanding issue of overlapping land claims, the perennial problem persisted in next-door Pitas where the villagers were fighting for their claim to land under development.  

Ongkili said Pitas could use Kota Marudu as a model for a resolution.     

He said the state government recently agreed that the 1,000-odd affected families in 35 villages in Kota Marudu which had overlapping claims with those of Begaraya and Safoda, would be given 20 acres of land to each family.     

“If intruders such as large corporations which obtained tentative approval for land, bulldoze through land which farmers had toiled for generations, this is unfair,” he said when launching the Banggi Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) division annual general meeting in Kudat today.     

Ongkili is also PBS deputy president.

    

- Bernama