KOTA KINABALU: SAPP Youth said it wiII be much better for PBS Vice President Datuk Herbert Timbon Lagadan to directly ask Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman to repeal the Forest Management Unit (FMU) programme, than beat about the bush.
Its chief Edward Dagul said if Herbert sincerely believes the FMU is detrimental to the natives rights to owning land then he should say so to the Chief Minister, instead of accusing Datuk Yong Teck Lee (SAPP President) of wrongdoing.
"Hirbert seems to forget that he is part and parcel of the current administration which has not only maintained the FMU programme but also, judging from what had been reported in the media, is positively upbeat about the programme," he said, in a statement.
Edward was commenting on Herbert as saying that many land issues in Sabah, including Nitive Customary Rights (NCR) faced by the people nowadays were a by-product of the creation of the FMU during Yong's tenure as CM.
Herbert also said the public's perception that FMU was a form of land abuse has merits and truths, adding that Yong cannot simply deny there were huge areas of customary land and few villages that have been trapped within the FMU areas.
Edward said,Musa had in the past also stressed that the FMU programme was vital and for the record "(he) was praised for the success of the FMU programme at an official function in Sandakan in May last Year."
"(So) if the programme is so bad, why hasn't Musa scrapped the programme?" he charged.
"It seems that Herbert is trying to distract people's minds from the fact that no one from PBS had commented on the statement by the State Attorney-General on the status of Native Customary Right (NCR), which, by the way, does stoke the rakyat's curiosity of Herbert’s stand on the matter.
"ls he in agreement with the State A-G's statement on the validity of the NCR status?"
Edward also asked Herbert whether he had actually read and understood the Sustainable Forest Licence Management Agreement (SFLMA) where in clauses 23 and 24 the protection of rights and privileges of natives or "forest community" is clearly stated.
The programme works and it is the non-compliance of the terms under the SFLMA by the current licensees that is causing the problem, he said.
Daily Express
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Page 4
natives have the right to protect their rights when they are being oppressed or their rights encroached.
ReplyDeleteThrough FMU, Sabah has been able to safeguard the interests of local communities whose lives depend on the forest.
ReplyDeleteWe need the FMU to help improve the way we conserve our forests and nature.
DeleteFMU perlu dalam menjaga dan menguruskan hutan2 kita.
ReplyDeleteHopefully FMU will continue to help conserving our forest as well as protected the rights of the natives.
ReplyDeleteSemua kesilapan ini mungkin ada kaitan dengan YTL sendiri.
ReplyDeleteThe program is good but it depends who can manage it efficiently.
ReplyDelete