Sabah sets conditions for SFI to exclude settlement areas from concession

Sabah sets conditions for SFI to exclude settlement areas from concession

KOTA KINABALU,. The Sabah government will set certain conditions to ensure that the company managing Sabah Forest Industries (SFI) approves the exclusion of settlements from its land concession, says Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor.

Hajiji said a committee had been formed to study village and settlement issues in the area to ensure that the conditions are implemented.

“The issue has reached the state government. Therefore, the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah government will continue to prioritise the interests of those who have long settled in the area owned by SFI.

“This is not government land (but) company land. We will negotiate with them to exclude some inhabited areas as villages that will be gazzetted as village areas,” he said.

Hajiji was replying to Kemabong assemblyman Datuk Rubin Balang (Independent) and Sindumin assemblyman Datuk Dr Yusof Yacob (Warisan) regarding efforts to exclude settlement land from the SFI concession during the wrap-up session by the Chief Minister’s department at the Sabah state legislative assembly sitting today.

Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department Datuk Abidin Madingkir said SFI was the long term Sustainable Forest Management License Agreement holder of the 245,764-hectare Sipitang Class II (Commercial) forest reserve that was gazzetted on May 1, 1959.

He said 900 hectares out of the total area had been reclassified as Sipitang Class I (Protected) forest reserve on Mar 14, 1984, as the area had a high conservation value.

According to Sabah Forestry Department records, the settlements in the SFI area only comprised three villages, namely Kampung Pakiak, Kampung Tunas Baru, and Kampung Lumampau, involving an area of around 20 hectares, with about 300 residents, he said.

“This issue and the village areas in other forest reserves will always be the focus of the state government and actions to settle the issue will be taken in stages. For now, a social baseline study will be conducted in the area to support any further action that is to be taken,” he said.

In another development, Abidin said the state government had approved a new programme to measure the state’s native customary land under the 12th Malaysia Plan with an allocation ceiling of RM2.5 million that will be implemented through the Land and Surveys Department as an addition to the allocation for the Perkhidmatan Tanah Adat Negeri Sabah (PANTAS) programme by the Federal government.

Meanwhile, Sabah Rural Development Minister Datuk Jahid Jahim said that non-commodity crops will be introduced as an anti-poverty program next year, as the crops can bring in quick returns and have high demand.

The crops identified include the Musang King durian, avocado, MD2 pineapple, pandan cocount and honey jackfruit, while the Mini Estet Sejahtera Kampung Angalor, Kemabong has been chosen as the location to implement the pilot project.

— BERNAMA

CATEGORIES
TAGS
Share This