44,000 land titles issued under SAPP: Yong

TENOM: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) on Wednesday gave its assurance that it will continue to defend the people, especially those affected by land grabbing and whose native customary rights (NCR) have been mistreated, even after the party has formed the next government following the elections.

Its President Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee said there are many natives such as in Kinabatangan, Tawau, Kudat, Tenom and Lahad Datu facing this dilemma.

He said the people, especially the poor, have really been suffering because their rights have been abused.

"Their lands were seized and their houses burnt by huge corporations from outside Sabah and yet the authorities did not do anything (to help them)," he said in a statement.

Speaking at the Sabah Land Reformation Policy and Economy Planning Plan talk at Hotel Perkasa here, he denied public perception that the Forest Management Unit (FMU) that was formed in 1998 was a form of land abuse and that it did not benefit the people.

According to him, when he was the Chief Minister under the rotation system introduced by the Barisan Nasional (BN) Government, they studied Second Class Forest Reserves to be conserved and placed under the FMU to give a second chance to the people who do not own land.

"Our purpose was to help raise their income and not to grab their wealth," he said.

To this, he expressed sorrow over reports that many farmers in rural areas still do not own land title to their land property.

He said when he was the Chief Minister, the Government managed to issue 44,000 land titles during the two-year tenure.

He said the communal land title is a loss to the people and only gives empty hopes to those who have the right to settle in their respective locations.

This is because they have lost absolute rights to own and develop their lands individually.

He said the practice now is to issue a single land title with the names of the owners in it irrespective of their origin and that all cultivation works are carried out by appointed corporations.

The people, he said, are only merely onlookers.

On other developments, Yong urged the division leadership to formulate separate manifesto for each state constituency so that the people would know their plans after winning in the election.

"The people need to be informed of the party's direction through the election manifesto so that they don't have any doubt in giving their support to SAPP candidates," he said.

The election manifesto, he said, contains the halatuju, which also is the leader's promise to the people that must be implemented after being elected in the general election.

On this, he urged the party's election michinery in each division to be updated and ready to be mobilised at any time to face the 13th General Election.

He said the BN Government could be defeated if the party's machinery is strong and ready to face the election.

Nevertheless, he did not state whether there is a need to combine the strength of all opposition parties from outside Sabah to defeat the BN.

He welcomed about 80 applicants led by former Private Secretary to the Culture, Youth and Sports Ministry, Dzulkifli Gunsika, and former press secretary to Datuk Kadoh Agundong, Wahab Timpai, to join the party.