PUTRAJAYA: The Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) wants Tan Sri Dr James Masing to explain how a perimeter survey of native customary rights (NCR) land for communal reserves would benefit the Dayak community.

A NCR land title is given to natives who have carried out agriculture activities in a particular spot for generations, although the land legally belongs to the state.

However, those residing on such lands are granted ownership, albeit without a title.

Masing, who is Sarawak’s Land Development Minister, had earlier urged all Dayaks to accept the exercise following an announcement of a RM30 million fund by the Prime Minister to continue the NCR land perimeter survey.

“Can this title be used as collateral for economic activities?”, SWP senior vice-president (I) Josephine Mawat queried in a press statement, adding that the Dayaks have put all their hopes in Masing as a minister.

Josephine went on to back the call by PKR state chairman Baru Bian, who had earlier said the exercise under Section (6) “did not make sense” — for the NCR land to be surveyed under Section 18(1) instead.

Section 18(1) give land titles to an individual, while Section (6) provides only a communal title.

While acknowledging the survey was costly and time consuming under Section 18(1), which Masing had pointed out, Josephine said it must still be carried out (under Section 18(1), adding that “a thousand mile journey always begins with the first step”.

“I am sure majority of the Dayaks agree with this.”

Josephine also called for the survey to be made transparent, in terms of cost and the time it would take to be carried out.

SWP information chief Nancy Nais told fz.com that a majority of the Dayak community preferred individual land titles as they “could not do anything” with a communal title.

For more stories, go to www.fz.com, the website for freedom of expression and fairness in articulation.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 13, 2013.