Kota Kinabalu, March 7, 2011: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) said it would push for sub-dividing of the communal titles into individual native title, if it has a say in the future new state government.
"If we have a new government and we (SAPP) have a say, the communal title can be subdivided. The election is just around the corner and we will do it properly if we win," he said.
Speaking at a news conference held after the inter-party dialogue and leadership seminar organized by the Borneo Heritage Foundation (BHF), at the Beverly Hotel here yesterday, Yong was responding to a question on whether the issuance of the communal title for Native Customary Right (NCR) land to the natives was beneficial to the natives.
He said land reform is one of the three issues which SAPP intends to resolve if it comes to power. The other two issues are employment among the youth and high inflation rate.
"Communal title is under the trustee of a village head and if the trustee is to heed the instruction of the government to go into joint-venture or to transfer it to someone else, all the native people in the scheme will lost their land rights," he said.
Yong also said there's nothing to stop the government from issuing native title to individual native, as this had been done in the past.He said that when he was Chief Minister from 1996 - 1998, more than 40,000 native titles were issued.
On the State government's contention that the issuance of the Communal Titles was to safeguard the interest of the natives to prevent them from selling their NCR land to others, non-native especially, he contended that like in the case of the low-cost housing scheme, the state government could impose a policy barring the transfer of native title land to a non-native or even to another native except the next of kin of the holder.
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