243,838 Sabah land applications resolved up to October this year

KOTA KINABALU, Nov 30 (Bernama) -- A total of 243,838 land applications were resolved between Jan 1, 2015, and Oct 31 this year, the Sabah State Assembly was told today.

Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan said this was a reduction of 86.5 per cent from the total 281,695 outstanding cases recorded on Jan 1, 2015, with 37,857 applications currently being processed.

“The primary strategy adopted is to clear the backlog of land applications at all districts by processing them in groups based on the area applied for, using the latest information and geospatial technologies.

“The Land and Survey Department will try its best to clear the outstanding applications by 2023,” he said in his reply to an oral question by Dr Aliakbar Gulasan (PAS-appointed) on the government’s strategy to address land ownership issues, especially in rural areas.

Nizam said the department had also planned various reforms and upgrades to improve the quality of service and delivery.

He said the following strategy was to speed up the land survey process through the Field to Finish method, which could reduce the grant processing time.

“The use of the recently introduced Global Navigation Satellite System technology also enables the plot measurement to be conducted faster and at a reduced cost,” he said.

In addition, Nizam said through the Sabah Native Land Services Programme (PANTAS), which was created to address the issue of native land ownership in rural areas, it would take 12 months to process the applications.

He added that 27,572 grants involving 42,429.26 hectares of land were issued through PANTAS from 2012 to Oct 31 this year.

-- BERNAMA