Several hundred village folks in Telupid, in the Sandakan area, are set to take on both the Land Office and some companies in the courts over their NCR (Native Customary Rights) land in the Labuk state constituency.

mount kinabalu sabah 030209 03 They allege blatant theft of their land more than 16 years ago right under their eyes because “the authorities concerned were willing to look the other way”.

Their total claim is for 2,800 acres in two parcels which is claimed as part of Kampung Kopuron, Telupid. However, they may still be willing to accept the return of only 1,000 acres from a 2,000-acre parcel as per a mutual agreement worked in a compromise in 1993.

Their original demand was for 1,500 acres from the parcel. It is alleged the deal was never honoured by Syarikat Haba Sdn Bhd, the company concerned, which is also linked to five other business associates on the said land.

The case has now come back to haunt Haba, among others, and the banks which extended millions in loans in exchange for using the land as collateral. A second parcel of 800 acres is held by another company.

“The 1,000 acres deal was minuted, witnessed and signed but later, it is claimed by the villagers, a fake version with alterations against their interest appeared,” said the lawyer for the Telupid villagers, Kong Hong Ming, in an exclusive interview. “This case is the tip of the iceberg.”

“We are giving the Telupid Land Office two weeks to hold a land inquiry on the disputed land. Failing this, we have instructions to take the matter to court to seek an order to compel the Land Office to discharge its statutory obligations and hold the land inquiry that we are requesting.”

Kong added that the Kampung Kopuron case has taken on greater urgency of late since hill-cutting by a company in the disputed land area has caused serious erosion problems and silting of the rivers in the vicinity, affecting the water quality and the catch.

“There are laws against hill-cutting and they are being violated with impunity,” fumed Kong. “Why don’t the authorities concerned do something about the hill-cutting?”

Firm gets warning from DoE

Kong Hong Ming was formerly a state minister in the PBS (Parti Bersatu Sabah) administration during its unprecedented 4th term in 1994 which lasted only one month. He has since joined the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in Sabah.

It is learnt that the Department of Environment issued a warning in Nov 8 last year to a VKKR Plantation Sdn Bhd which is undertaking the planting of oil palm in the disputed land area.

The department noted that several public complaints had been lodged against the activities of the company following the increasing pollution of rivers in the vicinity of Kampung Kopuron.

The DOE warned the company to stop its activities and submit an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report and await approval before resuming its activities.

After one fruitless attempt in July 2007, the Telupid villagers have not followed up a police report on the emergence of the fake minutes of the said meeting to work out the compromise deal.

Another and more determined follow-up is a possibility that they are now actively considering, according to Jfron Sool Sabitang, the assistant chairman of the Village Security and Development Committee in Kampung Kopuron.

“I am familiar with our case. I attended a human rights laws and land rights workshop in Kota Kinabalu in 2006,” said Sabitang. “Our case is based on Sections 13, 14, 15, 16, 65 and 66 in the Sabah Land Ordinance, Chapter 68.”

Several complications in the land dispute

Sabitang and ten others were at the meeting at 9.30am with Haba on Sept 13, 1993 at the conference room of the Telupid sub-district office.

They included the Telupid sub-district office and one Teh Eng Teik, the owner of Syarikat Haba Sdn Bhd. The Telupid Land Office, the Forestry Department, and the police were also represented. Also present, by invitation, was a private surveyor.

It appears that there are several complications in the land dispute case.

According to a memorandum on their case prepared by the Kampung Kopuron villagers themselves as a convenient brief for Kong, the NCR land that they are claiming were approved by the Telupid Land Office and given out to four companies in the late 1980s.

Each of the companies was given 500 acres. The companies, according to the memorandum, are listed as Syarikat Highlands Plantation; Syarikat Kumut Plantation; Syarikat Cocoa Sdn Bhd; and Syarikat Rich-N-Good Sdn Bhd.

Another 800 acres, in the second parcel, is being held by Syarikat Sutan Plantation Sdn Bhd. This company has not budged in the face of the NCR claims by the people of Kampung Kopuron.

Subsequently, all the first four companies sold their land to Syarikat Haba Sdn Bhd, the company that was willing to entertain the notion of returning 1,000 acres to the affected villagers but failed to do so.

Haba pledged the land in question to an unnamed bank as collateral for an undisclosed sum of money. Something appears to have gone wrong subsequently and a Syarikat Wang Sdn Bhd stepped in and bought the land from the bank in question for RM4.4 million.

History of the people's objections

The land, which is being claimed by the people of Kampung Kopuron, is now ironically known in Sanskrit as Suvarnabhumi Estate. Suvarnabhumi means golden land.

The memorandum lists the history of the objections of the people of Kampung Kopuron to the takeover of so much of their land. They lodged their first objection with the authorities on March 18, 1988 followed by a subsequent objection on Oct 14, 1988.

The memorandum then goes on to list the rest of the history of their objections and various follow-up actions in 1990, 1991, 1993 and finally in 2006 before a police report was lodged on April 3, 2007 in Telupid.

The police report also mentions a Syarikat Segama Sdn Bhd but it was not immediately clear what the role of this company is in the land dispute. The company representative was present at a meeting called by the Telupid police on July 23, 2007, according to the memorandum.

The thrust of the NCR claim by the people of Kampung Kopuron to the 2,800 acres rests on three key historical facts.

The first historical fact recorded is that the land in question was the headhunting grounds (tempat mesosongod) of their ancestors in an area bounded by eight rivers viz the Terangkai, Barasan, Mararaha, Tojon, Tijol, Pengasahan, Pibabasan and the Kelangkang. Inter-tribal warfare was prevalent in the area several hundred years ago.

Villagers yet to approach Suhakam

The second historical fact that the villagers are putting forward as part of their NCR claim is their traditional collection of jungle produce including traditional medicine, honey, fruits and various species of bamboo, rattan and other wood in the area claimed.

They also hunted and fished in the area and, according to the third historical fact listed; their ancestors are buried in the area.

The village area was however only settled in large numbers sometime in 1942 and subsequently recognised by the Sabah state government in 1969. The first of the new settlers is listed as one Bilangan Mandaung.

The historical records of Kampung Kopuron, according to the memorandum, have been attested by four persons including Sabitang. The others are listed as Lihu Lanag, Udis Tinggi and Zidol Tinggi.

Suhakam (Malaysia Human Rights Commissioner) Simon Sipaun was surprised when asked about the claim by the people of Kampung Kopuron. He confirmed that his office had not yet been approached by the villagers concerned.

“There are many such cases around,” said Sipaun. “Normally, we would prefer such complainants to approach us and allow us to hold an open public hearing. This will allow them to gather all the necessary facts which they can then take to court if no solution is found.”

Sipaun added that many people involved in NCR land disputes are too eager to rush off to the nearest lawyer and do it their way.