MalaysiaGIS.com

Source: The New Straits Times

Asked what happened to NCR land whose boundaries had been created through community mapping, he said: "Whatever land that has been mapped, it (the mapping) must go through a proper channel. Community mapping has never been accepted and recognised by the State Government."

On the May 12 judgement where the High Court admitted as evidence maps created through community mapping, Dr Chan said the State Government had filed an appeal against the decision.

"I don't want to comment further on the case," he said.

(In a landmark case, High Court judge Datuk Ian Chin held that four natives of Rumah Nor Nyawai longhouse was entitled to exercise their native customary rights over a disputed land which had a boundary marked in a map drawn through community mapping.

(The four - Tuai Nor Nyawai, Sekalai Ling, Jerangku Bakit and Lani Taneh - had sued Borneo Pulp Plantation Sdn Bhd for trespassing on their two parcels of land.

(They also sued the Bintulu Division Superintendent of Lands and Surveys as the authority which issued land titles to the Borneo Pulp and Paper Sdn Bhd.)

He was also asked to comment on a recent statement by Sahabat Alam Malaysia president S.M. Mohd Idris on the passage of the Land Surveyors Bill 2001 at the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly last Wednesday.

Mohd Idris said the Bill, which was tabled by Dr Chan, had the effect of making community mapping illegal.

He also said the law would not recognise maps created by the indigenous community in the State, adding that community mapping had been an increasingly important tool for the natives and was necessary in settling land boundary cases.

Mohd Idris said community maps were recognised by the court in any land dispute case and such maps were also important resource management tools.

The Bill, among others, sought to regulate and license persons undertaking cadastral land surveys and to establish a regulatory board which would oversee land surveyors and regulate the activities as well as conduct of surveying assistants.

It also required that all cadastral land survey plans be submitted to the Director of Lands and Surveys or any authorised officer for approval before surveying work could be carried out.

Dr Chan said the Bill was to ensure that land surveying was properly done.

"You have to use scientific and professional ways. You can't be guessing the boundary of a parcel of land," he said, adding that the State Government wanted surveying of NCR land to be regularised and acceptable so that it could be coded and registered.

He added that only registered surveyors would be recognised by the State Government.

Dr Chan also said NCR land not legally demarcated by registered surveyors would not be recognised by the State Government.