Investors, especially from foreign countries, must have approval from the Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development before entering into any agreement to develop Native Customary Rights (NCR) land.

In sounding out this caution, its minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas stressed this is necessary to determine the status of the land.

“This is to ensure that the ministry will be able to ascertain the status of the land, to avoid any future dispute over the land’s status, which can lead to loss of confidence by the foreign investors on our policies and programme,” he said.

Uggah, who is also the Deputy Chief Minister, said there may also be cases where some investors are given the impression the land involved came under NCR when it was not.

“If they submit to us, we check. If everything is okay, they can start,” he said.

He advised villagers and landowners who wish to develop their land via joint ventures with foreign or local investors to also submit their applications through the ministry.

“Preferably, they also must refer their intention to develop their NCR to the ministry because we have the mechanism to make sure their interests will be looked after in the forthcoming joint venture,” he said.

Uggah said the government has approved many such joint ventures following assessments of the viability of the investments in order to protect the landowners.

“When they enter into agreements with landowners, we must make sure whether they are going to develop the land as promised by them. That’s (why we must check) if they are financially viable and have experience,” he added.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by Abdul Hakim Bujang

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