Assistant minister: Sabah state govt has granted over 16,000 land titles during their administration since 2020

KOTA KINABALU, April 24 — The Gabungan Rakyat Sabah government has issued over 16,000 native titles (NT) or Field Registrar (FR) titles during their administration since 2020.

Assistant minister to the chief minister Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan said that 16,760 native titles were granted for 223 villages totalling 4,834 hectares and 11 settlements totalling 271 hectares was also gazetted during the same period.

“This is a testament to the government’s concern for the people’s needs,” he told the State Assembly today.

Meanwhile, he said a total of 4,339 draft titles covering an area of 8,787 hectares for NT/FR conditional land applications while 406 draft titles covering an area of 5,199.53 hectares for lease conditional land applications were prepared throughout 2023.

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NT/FR titles can only be granted to native Sabahans. In contrast, Country Lease (CL) or titles can be given to companies, statutory bodies, and individuals whether originating from Sabah or not.

“The state government always prioritises land ownership for native sons and daughters to eradicate poverty and improve their living standards,” he said.

Based on JTU statistics, the total registered NT/FR land titles as of March this year is 230,540, or 54 per cent of the total registered land titles in the state of Sabah. Meanwhile, the total registered leasehold land titles is 200,087, or 46 per cent of the total registered land titles.

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Nizam said leasehold land is vital to the economic development of the state in terms of state revenue collection, development, investment, and employment opportunities.

“The state always ensures a balance between the total number of NT/FR titles and leasehold land titles to achieve the state government's objectives of poverty eradication and state development,” he said.

He also said that there were no plans to set up a land tribunal to resolve land issues for natives as the current Land Ordinance had provisions in place to help resolve issues.

Nominated assemblyman Datuk Raime Unggi had earlier asked the state government whether the federal government was taking any measures to help the native community resolve the main issues in their land application.

Land issues are still among the biggest concerns for the local community, with complaints from rural folk of difficulty in claiming the land they have lived on.