Dayak NCR Land - Respect and Return Dayak Right and Amend Sarawak’s Land Code

Sarawak Dayak Association (Pedas) describes the decision of the Federal Court in relation to the ‘pulau galau’ (communal forest reserve) and ‘pemakai menoa’ (territorial domain) case, as one that will scrap off the rights of Dayaks in the state to land which they have inherited for generations.

Its president Major (r) Captain Collin Imran admitted that the defeat of Tuai Rumah Sandah Tabau and seven others in claiming ‘pulau galau’ and ‘pemakai menoa’ in the Federal Court on Dec 20 as a big slap for all the Dayak community in Sarawak.

“Their defeat means that the Federal Court does not recognise Dayak customary rights on land, namely the ‘pulau galau’ and ‘pemakai menoa’, thus wiping off Dayaks’ right as owners of land they have inherited for generations.

“If this defeat serves as a measure in connection to laws that determine similar claims in the future, it is like the Dayak community, after becoming Malaysians for 54 years, have lost something that is indeed highly valuable.”

He said further that this would make claims on native customary rights (NCR) lands, which all this while had been recognised by other related departments, more difficult.

All the land ownership disputes happened due to two definition of Natives Right and the Sarawak Land Code. After 2000, when the state assembly amended the Pemakai Menoa and Pulau Galauto be excluded from Sarawak Land Code, the ownership of the NCR land lots become redundant. The natives still claim their rights over their Pemakai Menoa and Pulau Galau based on the ancestral inheritance in which is recognised by the Majlis Adat Istiadat.

Thus, Sarawak’s Land Code should be revised to provide clarity as to what encompasses communal land or territorial domain (pemakai menoa), over which the Dayak community can assert their native customary rights (NCR), An amendment has to be made so that there is force of law that defines what pemakai menoa is.

“Pemakai menoa” refers to a virgin forest where the Dayaks in rural longhouses go to forage for food and other forest products, while “pulau galau” is located within the “pemakai menoa”.

ON 20th December 2016, Federal Court decided that the Dayak people cannot apply their native customary rights (NCR) on land to claim virgin forests as their territorial domains and communal forest reserves.

The issue for the Federal Court, he pointed out, was whether Adat — customary law — on these customs had force of law. The Federal Court decided Adat didn’t have force of law on “pemakai menoa” and “pulau galau”, holding the customs as incidental to “temuda”. The Federal Court held that Adat had force of law only on “temuda” while agreeing that “pemakai menoa” and “pulau galau” were NCR land as well.