Tebedu communal land remains protected pending surveys

LAND in Tebedu awaiting individual lot surveys and titles remains protected as communal land.

Deputy Minister for Urban Planning Land Administration and Environment Datuk Len Talif Salleh said areas that had yet to undergo individual lot surveys remained gazetted as Bumiputera Communal Reserves (Agriculture) under Section 6 of the Sarawak Land Code.

“With the gazettement in place, the areas still belong to the communities concerned and can be developed through joint ventures under a development model provided by the Sarawak Ministry of Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development,” he said.

He was responding to Simon Sinang (GPS-Tebedu) during question and answer session on Wednesday (Oct 14).

On land title issuance in Tebedu, he said 4,136 land titles had been registered under Section 18 of the Sarawak Land Code as of Sept 30, 2026, with handovers to claimants being carried out in stages.

He added that the Land and Survey Department had also approved 16 areas gazetted under Section 6 of the Sarawak Land Code for individual lot surveys under the NCR Land Survey New Initiative Programme.

“Of these, 13 areas have been documented by the Dayak Bidayuh National Association (DBNA), covering approximately 32,733 hectares, or 80,884 acres.

“All 13 areas were undergoing individual lot surveys, with survey work completed on 5,603 hectares, or 13,845 acres, involving 5,775 lots,” he said.

Len Talif said the Sarawak government appreciated DBNA’s efforts to expedite NCR land surveys under Sections 6 and 18 of the Sarawak Land Code.

“However, the association’s documentation has to be verified and validated by the Land and Survey Department before gazettement and land titles could be confirmed.”

Touching on how the government would address land boundary disputes affecting NCR surveys, Len Talif said the Land and Survey Department would hold dialogue sessions with land claimants.

He said the sessions would provide clearer explanations of the established guidelines while taking into account the preparations and responsibilities of claimants before, during and after survey work.

“The success of efforts to resolve land boundary disputes depends greatly on cooperation and mutual understanding among all land claimants,” he said.