KUCHING, July 1 — Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar should follow up on her comments on Sarawak’s Native Customary Rights (NRC) lands by engaging with affected communities and other stakeholders, said Peter John Jaban.
While thanking Nurul Izzah for her concern, the rights activist however said such issues have existed for decades, yet has drawn little attention from the federal government.
“If these are the same concerns Nurul Izzah is raising in 2025, the question that must be asked is, why only now?
“For years, NCR landowners have fought alone in the courts, on logging roads, in far-flung longhouses, without legal access or media coverage. Where was the federal attention then?” he told The Borneo Post when contacted yesterday.
He was asked to comment on Nurul Izzah’s recent statement calling for faster action on surveys and ownership approvals of NCR land in the state, and for a halt to the issuance of new licences on disputed land.
Peter said despite Nurul Izzah having held public office and speaking out on various national issues, her engagement on indigenous land issues, particularly in Sarawak, has been minimal.
“Still, her concern is valid to NCR landowners, but concern without clarity is not good enough.”
He said without meaningful engagement with Dayak-based organisations or other land rights defenders, her words risk appearing “superficial, a headline rather than a helping hand”.
Nurul Izzah, stressed Peter, ought to meet with NCR landowners and civil society organisations, while also pushing for the reform of state-federal frameworks to ensure that native land rights are respected and “not just surveyed for administrative convenience”.
“For her advocacy to matter, it must now be backed by real engagement,” he said, adding that Nurul Izzah’s influence at the federal level could amplify the realities that local communities have long been trying to highlight.
He went on to say that since the perimeter survey programme under Section 6 of the Sarawak Land Code began in 2010, civil society groups, lawyers, and native leaders have raised serious questions about its transparency, implementation, and implications.
This has included concerns over the eventual conversion of NCR land into leasehold titles — a process Peter claimed that, in many cases, strips the land of its customary protections. — The Borneo Post
