Sarawak Land Devt Board develops 1,247ha of NCR land for oil palm, rubber, coffee farming to date

Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail. Photo credit: Sarawak Information Department (Japen)

By Shikin Louis

KUCHING, May 14: The Sarawak Land Development Board (SLDB) has developed 1,247.02 hectares of Native Customary Rights (NCR) land statewide for oil palm, rubber and coffee farming projects involving 600 rural participants to date.

Deputy Minister for Food Industry, Commodity & Regional Development ( Food Industry) Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail said the projects were implemented through the Mini Oil Palm Estate model and Community Initiative or Cluster Farming approach to improve the socio-economic standing of rural communities.

“To date, a total of 1,247.02 hectares of NCR land have been successfully developed, involving oil palm plantation projects in Pedanum, Pakan, Sarikei covering 437.22 hectares with the participation of 125 participants.

“Rubber plantation projects in Sri Aman, Pakan, Kapit and Lubok Antu cover 577.2 hectares involving 295 participants, while coffee plantation projects in Simunjan, Samarahan and Sri Aman cover 232.6 hectares involving 180 participants,” he said when replying to a question from Rolland Duat Jubin (GPS-Meluan) during the Sarawak Legislative Assembly sitting today.

In addition, SLDB has also developed 275.37 hectares of individually-owned land under Section 18 of the State Land Code for oil palm cultivation in Kampung Teh, Mukah involving 116 participants.

According to Dr Abdul Rahman, participants in the oil palm projects receive annual rental payments of RM1,440 per hectare, while rubber and coffee farms will eventually be handed over to landowners once the development period ends and the crops begin yielding produce.

He added that the projects also create employment opportunities for local residents and provide supporting infrastructure such as roads and bridges.

Answering a supplementary question, Dr Abdul Rahman disclosed that three NCR land development projects under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) involved allocations totalling RM29.7 million.

The projects comprise the Mini Rubber Estate Development Project in Sri Aman and Pakan costing RM9.7 million, the Cluster Rubber Plantation Development Project in Sri Aman, Pakan and Kapit costing RM12 million, and the Cluster Coffee Plantation Development Project in Simunjan and Sri Aman costing RM8 million.

On whether Meluan has been identified for future NCR land development projects, Dr Abdul Rahman said SLDB welcomes applications from NCR landowners throughout Sarawak, including from the constituency.

However, he noted that SLDB has yet to receive any complete application from the Meluan area. — DayakDaily