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Screen grab shows Sikie delivering his ministerial winding-up speech in the DUN chamber.
KUCHING (May 22): A total of 10,583 cases or 63 per cent of the 17,003 cases filed with the Sarawak Native Courts have been settled as of April 30 this year, said Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Department Datuk John Sikie Tayai.
“This is an achievement of 720 additional cases within the last one year and the settlement of the cases at the District and Resident’s Native Courts is mainly through the circuit contract magistrates.
“The Native Courts Sarawak is making every effort to settle the remaining 6,420 outstanding cases, particularly before the District and Resident’s Native Courts. The cases which were registered before 2014 and cases involving land compensation are given priority,” he said in his ministerial winding-up speech during the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting today.
Since January 2019, Sikie said the chief registrar of the Native Courts had been assigned by the state government to be the controlling officer of the Native Courts Trust Account.
“This is the account where land compensation involving Native Customary Rights land, which are under dispute, is deposited pending the settlement of the disputes through the Native Courts. Previously the Trust Account was under the State Accountant General.
“The transfer of responsibility in the management of the Native Courts Trust Account from the state government to the chief registrar of the Native Courts in 2019 involves a sum of RM12,236,242.07 in compensation. This amount involves 226 outstanding cases,” he said.
Sikie said 40 cases involving RM3,016,865.80 in compensation had been settled, while 186 cases involving RM8,519,286.04 are still outstanding as of April 30 this year.
“For the information of this Dewan, as I have just mentioned, land compensation cases are given priority by the Native Courts over other cases to ensure that development projects approved by the state government are not held up because of the disputes over land compensation,” he added.
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