58 Chapter 4 | LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS TO LAND is premised on the assumption that NCR land which is now unorganised and fragmented could be turned into an economic asset through the creation of an NCR Land Bank. As a prerequisite, there should be contiguous blocks of land of not less than 5,000 hectares which may cover land spanning the territorial domain of several longhouse communities. Once pooled it is assumed that large scale plantation development and optimum returns could be realized. It also assumed that large areas of NCR are attractive and viable for investment by private investors. 4.96 This ‘new model’ Joint-Venture Company is a type of development trust which is a ‘facilitative commercial trust’.167 Creating a trust circumvents the requirements for a person or persons to be a party to the contract in order to enforce it. Unlike a contract, a third party can enforce a trust even though he was not party to it. The beneficiaries include persons whose names appear in the appendix of the trust deed, their respective heirs, successors in titles, executors, administrators, personal representatives, trustees and any other person claiming title or interest in the name or on behalf of the NCR owners. The trust also does away with the need to get into a partnership which will require the parties to contribute equally in order to share equally in the profits.168 As most native land owners do not have the financial means to develop the land, vesting the land in trustees is arguably one of the most appropriate mechanisms that can be used. This was however without its controversies.169 4.97 The JVC and the Nature of the Beneficiaries’ Interests. The terms of the trust deed presume that the NCR owners have acquired the rights through one of the means prescribed under sections 5(2), 7A, 7B or 7C or have obtained a permit under section 10 of the Land Code, or that there is evidence or records kept by the Land Office pertaining to the land, so that a registerable document of title may be issued in favour of the company. 4.98 This arrangement is different from some property development ventures which are financed through the marketing of shares in land trusts where the shares have clear proportions. In this case, while the beneficiaries may be entitled to the land as set out in the appendix of the trust deed, their respective interests, rights, shares are undivided interest. With one master title, the owners cannot apply for sub-division for as long as the company is the registered proprietor. 4.99 A fundamental aspect of the JVC is that native NCR ‘owners’ become partners in these ventures without having to provide financial capital. Their equity in the joint ventures would be based on the area of their land; and the idea that their land would be returned to them when the Government has no more use for it.170 Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Ordinance (Cap 84 Laws of Sarawak) 4.100 Another statute that has some bearing on native land rights is the Natural Resources and Environment Ordinance (NREO). This legislation needs to be considered along with the federal Environment Quality Act 1974 (EQA). The latter was enacted to ensure prevention, 167 Bryant, 2001. 168 Ladbury, R. A., 1987. ‘Commentary’, in Finn (ed). Equity and Commercial Relationships, LBC, p 39. 169 For a detailed discussion on the repercussion of this see Bulan, R, Native customary Land: The trust as a Device for Land Development in Sarawak, in Fadzillah Majid Cooke, (ed) State, Communities and Forests in Contemporary Borneo, ANU E Press 2006, 45-64. 170 Jitab, Kris with James Ritchie, Sarawak Awakens, Taib Mahmud’s Politics of Development, Pelanduk Publications (1991). chapter 4_a4.indd 58 7/5/13 6:46 PM