Native Customary Rights Land

The Land Code (Cap. 81) classified Sarawak Land into five types, namely:-

• Mixed Zone Land
• Native Area Land
• Native Customary Land
• Reserve Land, and
• Interior Area Land

Reserve Land is land reserved to the government or otherwise lawfully constituted or declared to be reserve land. The Forest Reserve, Protected Forest and Communal Forest constituted under the Forests Ordinance fall under this category. Interior Area Land is land which does not fall within any of these categories.

The Sarawak Land Code defines native customary land in S.5 as:-

• Land created in accordance with the native customary law of the community or communities concerned by any of the methods specified in S.5 (2) prior to 1st day of January, 1958.
• Land upon which customary rights have been lawfully created pursuant to a permit obtained under S.10.

The methods by which native customary rights may be acquired are:-

• the following of virgin jungle and the occupation of the land thereby cleared;
• the planting of land with fruit tree;
• the occupation or cultivation of land;
• the use of land for a burial ground or shrine;
• the use of land of any class for rights of way or
• any other lawful method.

No recognition shall be given to any native customary rights over any land in Sarawak created after the 1st day of January, 1958.

The native customary rights may be extinguished by the government for public purposes. The right to Native Customary Rights would be lost by abandonment of the land by emigration.