The villagers were represented by counsel Datuk Kong Hong Ming.
Judicial Commissioner Datuk Douglas Primus allowed the stay of execution of the order until the hearing of their application to set aside the order which the High Court has fixed for July 19, 2011.
On February 24, 2011, eight companies, the plaintiffs in the case, obtained an order of possession from the Tawau High Court, thus evicting the villagers of Kampung Serudong Laut from the land which was recently alienated to the eight companies.
Two thousand and two hundred acres, more or less, of land were alienated to the eight companies in 2008.
Since then, the villagers of Kampung Serudong Laut have strongly protested against the encroachment of their customary rights over the land by the said companies.
The villagers asserted that the eight companies all come under one management only.
The villagers of the Murut community claimed that the land occupied by them was their ancestral land and possess customary rights over the land which had been inherited by them from their forefathers.
Pursuant to the order for possession obtained by the eight plaintiff companies, four houses which had been built on the land were brought down when their columns were sawn off on June 29, 2011. The villagers had been warned by the companies that more houses would be demolished.
Some 50 villagers were present in court yesterday, Ied by their chief, Mitter Tungkat who claimed that as the village chief residing at Kampung Serudong Laut, he and the villagers were unaware of the legal action taken by the plaintiffs.
Therefore, they did not have the opportunity to defend themselves against the actions taken by the eight companies, Tungkat said.
It was also disclosed at the time when the houses were demolished, some villagers and their community leaders were attending the national inquiry organized by Suhakam in Tawau and some attended a seminar and a workshop on native customary land and land enquiry organised by Datuk Kong Hong Ming and PACOS at Kampung Serudong Baru.
Tungkat stressed that the eight companies were fully aware of the presence of the Murut community on the disputed land and also of their continuous protest against the companies' encroachment on their ancestral land since 2009 until now.
Meetings and dialogues had taken place between the villagers with the companies, the police and the land officer.
Tungkat expressed regret over the harsh, oppressive and cruel actions taken by the eight companies against the villagers despite them (the companies) having trespassed into the community's ancestral land and in the process destroyed their land and crops.
He maintained the villagers were neither trespassers nor squatters in their ancestral land.
The State Government has given recognition to the existence of the village community and accorded it a 'village status' and has appointed eight village chiefs successively for Kampung Serudong Laut and the Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) until the present day.
Tungkat expressed relief when the Tawau High Court granted the stay of execution of the order until the full hearing of their application to set aside the order fixed for July 19, 2011.
Kong who represented the villagers on a ‘pro bono basis’ refused to comment when asked on the day's event.
He simply responded by saying, “enough has been said by me on the land issues and the crisis now being faced by the native communities through out the state of Sabah. These are real and serious problems that touch the core of human rights and fundamentai liberty, not only for the native communities".
"The native communities who are in a dilemma, need our understanding and help now,” he said.
From the Borneo Post by Alen Kee
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