Speaking to FMT, Arthur Sen said the previous government gave RM20 million in Budget 2018 to survey 17,000 hectares of NCR land through the Sabah Native Land Services (Pantas) and communal grant programmes.
“The current Warisan government has decided to make do without the communal grant programmes but the Pantas programme is still on and continues to benefit the natives.
“However, without funds from the federal government, the programme will not be able to get into full gear as before.
“In fact, because the communal grant has been abolished, the Pantas programme will need more funds than it received before,” he said.
Since the Pantas programme was introduced in 2011, the Sabah Land and Survey Department has surveyed 21,378 land lots with a total area of 36,137.02 hectares involving 92 villages throughout Sabah.
The RM20 million under this year’s federal budget has proven to be hugely valuable as the department has managed to accelerate its work.
Sen said this was proven by the department’s prediction that it would complete land mapping and surveying of 17,000 hectares within one year, almost half of its achievement between 2011 and 2017.
“What is RM20 million if it means the money can be used to finally clear a huge amount of the department’s backlog and, at the same time, finally grant the natives their rightful heritage?
“Of course, because of inflation, the amount should be more than in the previous budget. We are looking at maybe double the amount so that more can be done and more people will benefit,” he said.
The Pantas programme was an initiative of the previous Sabah state government, in collaboration with the federal government, to expedite the application process for Sabah NCR land.
Sen also urged the federal government to grant Sabah extra funds to recall and reissue MyKads for all Sabahans in an effort to weed out fake MyKads and solve the problem once and for all.
The former United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) Youth chief said when he was still in the party, he had always supported the proposal to reissue MyKads in Sabah.
“Upko believes this is the only way to solve the fake MyKad problem and even though I am no longer in Upko, I still share this belief because, honestly, there is no other way around it.”
He noted that even Sabah National Registration Department (NRD) director Ismail Ahmad had said recalling and reissuing all MyKads in Sabah was possible and that the department was capable of doing it at any time.
Sen said he was concerned because he believes many in Sabah who claim to be Sabahans are foreigners holding genuine MyKads belonging to someone else.
There are also cases where foreigners with fake MyKads managed to land jobs, not just in Sabah but also in the peninsula, he said.
“I cannot estimate how much it would need to recall and reissue MyKads but I imagine the government would know because we have changed our MyKad a few times since 1963.
“The mechanism is already in place. The only thing we need is the funds to do it. The federal government should consider this if it is serious about solving Sabah’s problem,” he said.