Sarawak deputy premier says NCR land surveys will only proceed with owners’ consent

Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said every survey application must undergo scrutiny and verification of ownership evidence by the Sarawak Land and Survey Department to ensure the claims are legally valid. — Bernama pic

First Published: Thursday, 12 Nov 2026 6:15 PM MYT

SIBU, Nov 12 — Native Customary Rights (NCR) land ownership in Sarawak continues to be protected through land surveys conducted only upon the application and consent of stakeholders to prevent boundary disputes, encroachment and the loss of rights to ancestral land.

Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said every survey application must undergo scrutiny and verification of ownership evidence by the Sarawak Land and Survey Department to ensure the claims are legally valid.

He stressed that the state government would not conduct land surveys arbitrarily without first engaging with and obtaining the consent of landowners or claimants.

“We have stipulated that surveys must be carried out upon application. Before any survey work begins, we hold engagement sessions and discussions with stakeholders.

“We want to avoid misunderstandings or allegations that the government is attempting to seize people’s land,” he said at the presentation ceremony for Native Communal Reserve gazette notifications, land titles and land compensation cheques for Sibu Division here today.

Awang Tengah said NCR land surveys would not be carried out on land subject to unresolved ownership disputes or pending court cases until the matters had been settled.

He said that since the introduction of the new NCR land survey initiative in 2010 until October 31 this year, a total of 1,248,659 hectares had undergone perimeter surveys, of which 979,434 hectares had been gazetted as Native Communal Reserves.

During the same period, 112,717 individual lots covering 135,332 hectares had been surveyed, while land titles had been issued for 40,796 lots covering 60,727 hectares.

At the ceremony, 167 land titles were presented to 158 recipients, while five areas covering 21,942.13 hectares in Sibu and Kanowit were gazetted as Native Communal Reserves.

The state government also distributed RM12.69 million in land compensation to 165 recipients affected by five development projects in Sibu Division. — Bernama