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62. Power of reservation of State land.
(1) The State Authority may by notification in the Gazette reserve any State land for any public
purpose.
(2) Any notification gazetted under sub-section (1) shall- (a) describe the reserved land; (b)
describe the purpose for which the land is reserved; (c) designate the public officer for
the time being having the control of the reserved land; [Am. Act A1333] (d) be conclusive
evidence that the land so described is reserved for a public purpose.
(3) Copies of any such notification shall be published in accordance with the provisions of
section 433.
(4) Without prejudice to the provisions of any other written law for the time being in force,
reserved land shall not be- (a) disposed of by the State Authority except to the extent
permitted by, and in accordance with the provisions of, section 63 and Chapters 2, 3 and
4 of this Part, or (b) used for any purpose other than that for which it is reserved except in
pursuance of a disposition made by virtue of any of those provisions.
S U H A K A M A N N U A L R EPOR T 2017
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2
Eventually, after several requests, the Kelantan Menteri Besar met with the
Commission on 23 August. Prior to the meeting, the Commission visited the
Orang Asli in Gua Musang and Lojing areas to listen to their grievances.
At the meeting which was also attended by the Deputy Menteri Besar,
Kelantan State Secretary Office, State Land and Mines Department, State
Forestry Department and Kelantan and Terengganu branch of Orang
Asli Development Department (JAKOA), the Commission highlighted the
findings of the visit and the Orang Asli’s grievances. In addition to reiterating
its position articulated in the reply letter, the Kelantan state government
explains that the state government has reserved 7,286 hectares of land for
Orang Asli settlements under Section 62 of the National Land Code5; the
Forestry Department has stipulated that 50-meter area from the river as
buffer-zone to address the issue of river pollution; the state government
also out rightly denied that the logging activities were the cause of the
worst floods that hit Kelantan in 2014 and instead, provided a finding of a
study which indicated that the causes of the floods were due to the unusual
rainfall and strong winds that occurred during the northeastern monsoon.
C H A P T E R
and the Kelantan state government, were not willing to compromise their
conflicting stands and interests on the issue. The Commission then organised
two discussions with the civil society organisations and the Malaysian Bar
Council on 8 February and 1 March, respectively. At the discussion, everyone
fully supported the proposal to hold a public inquiry into the blockade
incidents; nonetheless, the Commission was informed that there were
ongoing court cases in relation to the claim of native customary land rights
in Gua Musang, and another fresh suit will be filed soon. Thus, the inquiry
proposal was put on hold to give way to the court cases.