avoid further confusion over the status of Bumiputra Christians in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU - The NECF Commission on Sabah Affairs (COSA) welcome the Cabinet’s decision to resolve with urgency the long standing dilemma of Bumiputra Christians in Sabah wrongly classified as Muslims in their MyKad.

“This is a step in the right direction to avoid further confusion over the status of Bumiputra Christians in Sabah,” said Datuk Jerry Dusing, chairman of the National Evangelical Christian fellowship Commission on Sabah Affairs in a statement today.

The statement also said the assurance by the State National Registration Department that the error in recording the religious status in MyKad can be resolved immediately is a positive move. COSA hopes with this, the injustice and the huge back log of unresolved MyKad cases can be cleared quickly without having to go through the Syariah Court.

Christians and not Muslims

COSA will immediately seek the intervention of both the Cabinet and the state NRD to remove the long protracted dispute from the Kudat Syariah High Court where it will have to determine whether three baptised Christians who have been Christians since birth and have never been Muslims are indeed Christians and not Muslims. After a series of postponements, the case is scheduled to be heard five days before Christmas.

The statement said COSA urge the authorities to act with utmost urgency to amend the error in the entry in their MyKad as Christians and not Muslims so that the Syariah Court is not forced to make any judgment or order which may further complicate the problem.

COSA said the controversy came to light when a test case was mounted by a 53 year-old widow of Banggi ethnicity, Intim binti Lambatan, and her two adult daughters, Norina binti Nuhudan,28, and Listin Nuhudan, 22, after they were classified as Muslims in their MyKad when all three are baptised Christians belonging to the Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) denomination.

NRD refused to rectify error despite clarification

The statement said the Jabatan Hal Ehwal Agama Islam Negeri Sabah – JHEAINS - or the Sabah Islamic Affairs Department, had clarified their names are not on the department’s register, thus indicating they are not Muslim converts.

But the NRD would not rectify its error and asked Intim to go the Kudat Syariah High Court for a declaration that she is not a Muslim. After several delays, the case came up for hearing on 29 Oct 2012 but both JHEAINS and the NRD did not turn up, forcing another postponement.

COSA cited press reports that the United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said the matter has been resolved at the Federal Cabinet level. He said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has given the NRD the go-ahead (to rectify the errors) instead of having to go through the Syariah Court.

'Technical glitches'

Dompok, who is also the Plantation industries and Commodities Minister, said the Cabinet had also decided to appoint him as the “focal point” in Sabah while Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Unggah Embas was directed to monitor Sarawak. Dompok said that he will render the necessary assistance.

Meanwhile, COSA added that the Sabah state director of NRD Ismail bin Ahmad said the errors were caused by “technical glitches.” He assured those facing such problems that all they need to do is to go to his office and point out the error and it would be rectified.

Issued on behalf of National Evangelical Christian Fellowship Commission on Sabah Affairs

NCR was in any event extinguished by legislation

Appeal Court reverses NCR verdict on turtle egg collection

Published on: Friday, December 14, 2012

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Kota Kinabalu: The Court of Appeal on Thursday allowed the State Government's appeals against the High Court's decision to grant customary rights to two traditional turtle egg collectors to collect the eggs at Pulau Sipadan.

The appellate court also dismissed the claim for Native Customary Right over the whole Sipadan island by one Haji Abdillah Haji Abdul Hamid.

Justices Datuk Ramly Haji Ali, Dato' Anantham Kasinather and Dato' Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim unanimously allowed the State Govern-ment's four appeals after hearing submissions from all parties.

The appellate court held that on the question of Native Customary Rights (NCR), they were not satisfied that both individuals (Ab Rauf Mahajud, 70, and Haji Abdillah) have established NCR.

"NCR was in any event extinguished by legislation," they ruled.

They also held that the collection of turtle eggs in the island is illegal by law and that the question of compensation does not arise.

The court further said that the possession of turtle eggs did not arise by way of NCR under Section 15 of the Sabah Land Ordinance and also not a property of Ab Rauf and Abdillah.

The State Government and the Board of Trustees of the Sabah Parks were appealing against Ab Rauf Mahajud in the first appeal.

In the second appeal, the Semporna Assistant Collector of Land Revenue (ACLR) and State Government was appealing against Haji Abdillah Haji Abdul Hamid, while the third appeal was by Ab Rauf against the State Government and the Board of Trustees of the Sabah Parks - all appeals on the issue of liability.

The fourth appeal was by the State Government and the Board of Trustees of the Sabah Parks against Ab Rauf, and the fifth appeal by Semporna ACLR and State Government against Abdillah, both appeals on the consequent issue of quantum.

State Attorney General Datuk Roderic Fernandez defended the State Government, Ab Rauf was represented by counsel Yunof Maringking while Abdillah was represented by counsel Alex Decena and Shireen Sikayun.

The High Court, which heard both Ab Rauf and Abdillah's suits together on the issue of liability, had on Dec. 15, 2009 allowed the application by traditional turtle eggs collector Ab Rauf and 70 family members to collect the turtle eggs around Sipadan.

The High Court also granted a similar claim by businessman Haji Abdillah on Native Customary Rights over 2.5 acres of ancestral land on the island to collect turtle eggs and ordered the Deputy Registrar to assess damages on both suits.

The High Court Deputy Registrar, who heard the assessment of damages of both suits, had on April 20, 2011 awarded damages of RM4,376,008.75 to Rauf's suit in respect of the right to collect turtle eggs and awarded damages of RM5,524,711.04 to Abdillah and also awarded damages of RM26,500,000 to Abdillah in respect of the loss of the tourist resort, which Abdillah would otherwise have developed on the 2.5 acres of native customary right land on the island.

The appellate court in Thursday's proceedings, also dismissed Ab Rauf's appeal against the part of the High Court decision which had dismissed his claim for native customary right over the whole Sipadan island.

Earlier, Roderic, among others in his submission, said that the collection of turtle eggs is totally prohibited on Sipadan island or anywhere in Sabah since July 31, 1998 and that the right to collect turtle eggs on Sipadan island is not a native customary right within the definition of Section 15 and 65 of the Land Ordinance.

The island had been reserved for public purposes particularly of a bird sanctuary since 1933 and no one can claim it even via NCR and both Ab Rauf and Abdillah had not established the NCR factually, said Roderic.

Sipadan on Sept 24, 1997 was declared a protected area under the Protected Areas Order 1997 and under the control and management of the National Security Division, which remains so until today, he said.

When Malaysia went to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to challenge Indonesia's claim to the island, it was not Malaysia's argument on the continuity of occupation on the island as the ICJ judges found it on different principles, he said.

Meanwhile, Decena submitted among others that having established NCR under common law, Abdillah does have propriety rights over Sipadan island under the Land Ordinance even though the island had been reserved as a Bird Sanctuary and that despite the ban under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 on collecting turtle eggs in Sipadan and elsewhere in Sabah, the enactment does not extinguish Abdillah's NCR to collect eggs on the island, established under common law.

Even if the enactment does extinguish Abdillah's NCR to collect and sell eggs from the island, he is entitled to compensation for loss of the right, said Decena.

Ab Rauf in his application on Dec 8, 2006 to seek an injunction against the State Government and Board of Trustees of Sabah Parks (defendants) from continuing to possess the island, said he is an heir of Maharaja Ligaddung Samang, who had the right to collect turtle eggs on the island which was recognised by the then British Government in letters dated Jan 25, 1916 and July 5, 1957, respectively.

He said the Federal Government had also recognised his grandfather's right to collect turtle eggs on the Island and the State Government had also sought his grandfather's cooperation to challenge Indonesia's claim to the Island in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ruled in favour of Malaysia.

He further said that the Tawau Syariah Court granted him an order on Nov 23, 1998 to inherit the right to collect turtle eggs for 40 nights a year.

The Sabah Government took over the island in 1997 and, without consent, licensed 12 tourism companies to run business there, thus his families were prohibited from collecting turtle eggs, said Ab Rauf.

Ab Rauf also wanted the court to rule whether the defendants are liable to pay compensation to his family for the loss of their right of use and occupancy of the Island under customary tenure resulting from the application of the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 and or the licensing of 12 companies to do tourism business on the Island.

Meanwhile, Abdillah's ancestors had built, lived and maintained a house on the island and planted coconut trees and tapioca over 2.5 acres on the island and Abdillah, who inherited that NCR continued to collect and sell turtle eggs from the island and maintained the house and the 2.5 acres.

government had not effectively addressed the root cause of corruption and its agencies suffer from redundancy and lack of focus.

Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) said that corruption in Malaysia is not as bad as what the public perceives.

KUALA LUMPUR: Discuss corruption issues in Malaysia with a pinch of salt. Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) said this in its interim research report on Anti-Corruption Initiatives in Malaysia which was launched today at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Academy.

Present at the launch was former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The report, titled Combating Corruption: Understanding Anti-Corruption Initiatives in Malaysia, said it was important for the public not to be influenced by perception alone when discussing corruption in Malaysia.

“Although the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) implies that corruption level in the country is bad, our data suggests the situation is not as bleak as the CPI score.

“Therefore, we need to be cautious and not throw blanket accusations denying the many good efforts initiated by the government to combat corruption,” the report said.

However, the report indicated several weaknesses in government’s effort to battle corruption such as lack of a cohesive approach by government agencies, private sector and the civil society to curb graft.

The report added the government had not effectively addressed the root cause of corruption and its agencies suffer from redundancy and lack of focus.

“And that’s why the public does not believe that the government is serious in tackling corruption despite its attempts to do so,” the report said.

Offering solution, the interim report urged the government to set up an inter-agency working committee at the federal level to help agencies to coordinate initiatives and strategies to tackle graft.

“Agencies monitoring the government’s National Key Results Area (NKRA) should improve its coordination capacity, especially when it comes to corruption, and not focus on Government Transformation Programmes (GTP) alone.

The report also said that the government should not ignore anti-corruption framework like the National Integrity Plan as it provides comprehensive long term framework in strengthening integrity and battling corruption.

“We also find that the Nazir Shah Alam report on corruption, done is 1958, is worth revisiting.

“Plus, the MACC should optimise it resources to improve detection and investigation capacity and allow the Integrity Institute of Malaysia (IIM) to focus on public education initiatives,”the report said.

The report is funded by MACC’s NKRA Anti Corruption Unit, plus several local and foreign funders.

Source: FMT

before applying for perimeter survey.

KANOWIT: Community leaders have been urged to cooperate with the Land and Survey Department to ensure consensus is achieved among every member in their community before applying for perimeter survey.

The department’s Sibu chief Peggy Ronin Edin said the consensus included land boundaries and ownership claim.

“This is other than giving your full support to the department when we carry out the survey work,” she told about 50 community leaders present at ‘Native Customary Right (NCR) Land New Initiative’ dialogue session at Kanowit MP service centre here on Saturday.

The session was also held to explain the standard traverse geodimeter (STG) control for perimeter survey purpose in Sungai Poi here.

Kanowit MP Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang, acting Kanowit District officer Ibrahim Kipli, Kanowit police chief DSP Ismail Mahmud and Kanowit Information Department head Wan Mohd Zuki Wan Ismail were among those present. Peggy later explained on the use of STG control, legal documents for land ownership claim, overlapping claims and trespassing of land border.

Meanwhile not begin given prior notices before perimeter survey works started is one of the issues raised by community leaders at the session.

Some even claimed the department had failed to give them detailed explanations on the matter.

A few community leaders also disclosed that their followers did not want their land to be developed through a joint venture scheme like with Land Custody and Development Authority (LCDA).

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/11/05/community-leaders-told-to-cooperate-with-dept/#ixzz2BbGGQLlQ

inflation rate in Sabah higher than the national

Kuala Lumpur: The inflation rate in Sabah between January and August this year was 2.0 per cent, slightly higher than the national average of 1.8 per cent, said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk S. K. Devamany.

He said throughout last year the State's inflation rate was lower, at 2.9 per cent compared to the national rate of 3.2 per cent.

"Goods and services which recorded a rise compared to the national average for food and non-alcoholic drinks, recreation, culture, hotel, restaurant, decorations, household maintenance and hardware.

"Other food items such as meat, milk, eggs, sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and sweetmeats as well as other manufactured foods recorded a rate increase compared to the national average," he said, replying to Datuk Chua Soon Bui (Independent-Tawau) at the Dewan Rakyat, here, Tuesday.

Chua had asked on the steps taken by the ministry and relevant authorities to resolve inflation woes faced by the people in Sabah.

Devamany said enforcement and price monitoring on essential items such as wheat, sugar, cooking oil, bread, chicken, petrol, diesel and cooking gas were constantly enhanced to ensure that prices remained stable and reasonable.

"The Government will continue to focus on lowering and controlling the inflation rate nationwide.

"To lower the price of essential goods in Sabah and Sarawak, the Government has implemented the price standardisation programme, transport subsidy as well as the 1Malaysia people's shop (KR1M)," he said.

He said under the 2013 Budget, the Government allocated RM386 million to ensure that essential goods in Sabah and Sarawak as well as Labuan were sold at the same price as in the peninsula.

"This included opening 57 KR1M and bearing the transportation cost from the peninsula to Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan including the interior areas.

To a supplementary question by Chua, he denied claims that only one KR1M was opened in each parliamentary area, thus preventing the people living in the rural areas to benefit from it.

"The KR1M was opened and located according to needs and not based on parliamentary areas," he said.-Bernama

Kiulu Paintball + White Water Rafting (Grade I - II)

Section: Discover Sabah, Borneo | Category: Combo Tour Packages

Kiulu Paintball + Kiulu White Water Rafting (Grade I - II) Kiulu river is a challenge to all and gives glimpses of the thrills and excitement to come. Briefing session will be conducted by the river guide before the rafting commences. The ultimate challenge will speak for itself as one shoots through and experiences the nerve tingling excitement which crescendos rapid after rapid. After rafting, enjoy a sumptuous barbecue lunch by the river. Itinerary 0800 hrs Depart from your hotel in Kota Kinabalu and proceed to kiulu river located at Tamparuli area. (journey takes 1 ½ - 2 hours drive). Signing of Liability Release form for the White Water Rafting to be done in the bus. 1000 hrs Arrive at Kg Pukak, You may change to Paintball attire and  then you will proceed to the Paintball Centre.  Safety equipment like Chest Protector and  Paintball google to be wear and check by Marshall.  The disclaimer form for the Paintball need to be sign at the centre and then Safety briefing will be given. The 3 games may take 15-20 minutes After the Paintball challenge, you may change to rafting attire or you may use the same attire for rafting. 1040hrs Proceed to the starting point. Safety briefing will be given by Riverbug professional river guide  1055hrs Rafting commences. Excursion takes about 2 hours to the ending point.  1230hrs Arrive ending point. Freshen-up and ready for BBQ lunch.  1330hrs  Depart for hotel.-End of service Includes / Excludes Includes Return transfer, Paintball equipment, Rafting equipment, English speaking guide, BBQ Lunch, Insurance. Remarks Things to bring: - Payment / Service Voucher. - Extra pocket money. - Insect repellent. - Sun-block lotion. - Change of clothes. - Towel. - Cap / Hat. Recommended to Wear: - Sandal with strap / Sport shoe. - Shorts and T-shirt. - Swimwear. Notes: 1. Participants must be physically fit. 2. Liability Release Form MUST be signed and understood by the participant before the tour commences. 3. Age limit for child is 12 years old and above only. 4. Please let us know if you have dietary request, e.g. vegetarian.