Just because six natives from the Kelabit, Lun Bawang and Penan tribes had re-settled at another area, the Federal Court today ruled they are not entitled to a claim made against four timber companies, the Sarawak Forestry Department and the state government for encroaching into their purported Native Customary Right land.

In allowing the appeal by the timber companies and the state government in Putrajaya today, the five-member bench led by Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria cited the Bisi Jinggut case, which ruled that when once abandoned, whatever NCR land that is created or acquired would have been lost.

The unanimous decision was written by Federal Court judge Justice Balia Yusof Wahi in the Racha anak Urud case today.