Land Code, 1958

a grant of probate or letters of administration issued under the provisions of the Administration of

Estates Ordinance [Cap. 80 (1948 Ed.)] or a grant of representation in terms of section 14 of that Ordinance;

an adjudication order in bankruptcy; or

an order of the court under which the property of a person mentally disordered becomes vested in the official assignee or any other person;

“charge” means any charge on land created under of this

Code for securing⎯

the re-payment of a loan or satisfaction of any existing debt;

the re-payment of future advances or payment or satisfaction of any future or unascertained debt or liability contingent or otherwise;

the payment to the holders for the time being of any bonds, debentures, promissory notes or other securities, negotiable or otherwise, made or issued by the chargor before or after the creation of the charge; or

the payment to any person or persons by yearly or periodical payments or otherwise of any annuity, rent, charge or sum of money other than a debt;

“chargee” means the proprietor of a charge;

17

“chargor” means the proprietor of any estate or interest subject to a charge;

“communications”, “network facilities” and “transmission”

shall have the same meanings assigned to those expressions by the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 [Act 588];

“communication tower” means any tower, pole, structure, facility or equipment used for providing telecommunication services or as part of network facilities for telecommunications or for the transmission or reception of radio, television or satellite signals, broadcast or other media of communications;

[Ins. Cap. A95.]

“community” means a group of persons subject to the same system of personal law :

Provided that if a customary law applies to different groups with divergencies in customary law each group shall constitute a separate community;

“country land” means land other than land declared to be town, suburban or land comprised in a bazaar, whether before or after the 1st day of January, 1958;

“Crown” .......... see “Government”;

“Crown land” .......... see “State land”;

“customary law” means a custom or body of customs to which the law of Sarawak gives effect;

“dealing” means every transfer, charge, lease or other instrument affecting any estate or interest under this Code;

“Director” means the Director of Lands and Surveys, and includes a Deputy Director appointed under section 3;

“document of title” means a grant, lease of State land, occupation ticket, native communal title or other document

18

evidencing title to land whenever issued, but does not include a licence, permit or caveat;

[Ins. Cap. A179.]

“Government”, in respect of acts or things done before the cession of Sarawak, includes any Rajah of Sarawak and any person lawfully authorized to act on behalf of any such Rajah, and save as aforesaid means the Government of Sarawak;

“grant” means a grant of State land issued by or on behalf of the Government;

“Interior Area Land” means land not falling within any of the definitions of Reserved Land, Native Customary Land, Native

Area Land or Mixed Zone Land;

“issue document of title” has the meaning assigned to it by section 117;

“instrument” means any printed or written document relating to the transfer of, or other dealing with, land, or evidencing title thereto, but does not include a caveat;

“land” includes—

that surface of the earth and all substances forming that surface;

land covered with water within the boundary of the State of Sarawak; and

held by a native under a document of title;

declared to be such under a subsisting declaration made under the former Land (Classification)

Ordinance, 1948 [Ord. No. 19/1948], or under section 4(2)

or (3);

which becomes Native Area Land by virtue of section 4(4)(b); or

which becomes Native Area Land by virtue of a direction under section 38(5);

20

“native communal title” means a title issued in accordance with section 6A over a native territorial domain in the name of a person or body of persons as trustee for the native community concerned but without the right of sale or disposal, and such native communal title shall be held to be a title under this Code;

[Add. Cap. A179.]

“Native Customary Land” means⎯

land in which native customary rights, whether communal or otherwise, have lawfully been created prior to the 1st day of January, 1958, and still subsist as such;

land from time to time comprised in a reserve to which section 6 applies; and

Interior Area Land upon which native customary rights have been lawfully created pursuant to a permit under section 10;

“native system of personal law” means the customary law applying to any community, being a community forming the whole or part of any native race specified in the Schedule to the

Interpretation Ordinance, 2005 [Cap. 61];

“native territorial domain” means an area or territory—

within or conjoining or immediately adjacent to an area where native customary rights have been created by that community in accordance with section 5; and

wherein members of a native community have from a date prior to 1st day of January, 1958, exercised usufructuary rights or preserved by them for such purposes:

Provided that such area or territory have not already been constituted a communal forest under Part III of the Forests

Ordinance, 2015 [Cap. 71];

[Add. Cap. A179.]

21

“non-native” means any person who is not a native of

Sarawak as defined by the Interpretation Ordinance, 2005 [Cap.

61];

“permanent forests” and “planted forests” shall have the meanings assigned to these expressions in the Forests Ordinance

[Cap. 126 (1958 Ed.)];

[Ins. Cap. A42.]

“person” has the meaning attributed to it by the

Interpretation Ordinance, 2005, [Cap. 61]:

Provided that for the purposes of the alienation of State land under Part III, or of being registered as the proprietor of any estate or interest in land under Part VII, or for the purpose of any future dealing in any estate or interest in land which requires to be registered under this Code, but without prejudice to sections 221 to 226 inclusive, a person shall be deemed to include only the persons mentioned in section 13(5);

“previous register” means any register kept under the former

Land Ordinance [Cap. 27 (1948 Ed.)] or the former Land

Settlement Ordinance [Cap. 28 (1948 Ed.)] or under any order of the Rajah affecting land;

“proprietor” includes the Government and any person entitled to an estate or interest in alienated land, whether such estate or interest is protected by registration or not, but does not include any person holding or deemed to hold land by licence from the Government;

“Register” means the Register kept under Part VII;

“Representative” means the person to whom a Certificate of

Representation has been issued, and includes a Probate Officer under the Administration of Estates Ordinance [Cap. 80 (1948

Ed.)] administering the estate of a deceased person where no grant of probate or letters of administration has been issued;

“reserve” means any area to be used or set aside for a public purpose, including but not limited to, the provision of roads, public parks, open space, drains, sewerage, water, electricity or

22

telecommunication facilities or such other purposes as the Majlis

Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri may from time to time direct;

[Ins. Cap. A50.]

“Reserved Land” means land⎯

reserved to the Government under section 38

or under the corresponding section of any Ordinance repealed by this Code*;

comprised within a National Park constituted under the National Parks and Nature Reserves Ordinance,

1998 [Cap. 27], or within a Forest Reserve, Protected

Forest or Communal Forest constituted under the Forests

Ordinance [Cap. 126 (1958 Ed.)];

occupied otherwise than under a document of title by the Federal or State Government or by any

Department or official in his official capacity of either such

Government; or

otherwise lawfully constituted or declared to be reserved land;

“rock material” means any of the substances specified in section 32(1)(d);

[Ins. Ord. No. 2/74.]

*NOTE :

The following Ordinances were repealed by the Land Code :

the Land Ordinance (Cap. 27, 1948 Ed.);

the Land Settlement Ordinance (Cap. 28, 1948 Ed.);

the Land (Classification) Ordinance (No. 19 of 1948);

the Dealings in Land (Validation) Ordinance (No. 11 of 1952).

“sale” includes any sublease, tenancy, gift or exchange and any agreement therefor, but does not include any devise or bequest of land nor any transfer or charge of any undivided share in any land;

[Ins. Cap. A50.]

23

“spectrum” shall have the same meaning as that assigned in section 6 of the Communication and Multimedia Act, 1988 [Act 588];

[Add. Cap. A200/2022]

“State land” means all land for which no document of title has been issued and all land which subsequent to the issue of a document of title may have been or may be forfeited or surrendered to or resumed by the Government, and includes⎯

the bed of any river, stream, lake or watercourse; and

the foreshore and beds of the sea within the boundaries of Sarawak as extended by the Sarawak

(Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council, 1954* [Vol.

VI, p.1025];

“State Planning Authority” means the Authority constituted under section 228, and includes any person or body to whom the functions of the Authority have been delegated;

[Ins. Cap. A50.]

“system of personal law” means the system of personal law recognised by the general law of Sarawak as being applicable to the members of any racial, religious or other community because they are members of such community, and includes any rules or customary law of such system which may refer the determination of any matter to another system of personal law;

*

For definition of boundaries see the Sarawak (Definition of Boundaries) Order in Council, 1958 (G.N.S. 145/58) and see also the North Borneo and Sarawak

(Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council, 1962 (G.N.S. 52/62).

“town land” and “suburban land” mean respectively land which has lawfully been declared to be such prior to the 1st day of January, 1958, or which is so declared pursuant to section 11;

and

24

“usufructuary rights” means the rights or privileges exercised or enjoyed by a native community over a native territorial domain to:

forage for food, including fishing and hunting;

enjoy such rights or privileges exercisable by a native community in a communal forest constituted under

Part III of the Forests Ordinance, 2015 [Cap. 71]; or

carry out such activities which are expressly authorized in the native communal title issued under section 6A(3) or a permit issued under section 10(3) but subject to the terms and conditions specified therein.

[Add. Cap. A179]

Administration

Any person lawfully discharging on the 1st day of January,

1958, the duties of any of the offices mentioned in subsection (1) shall be deemed to have been lawfully appointed thereunder.

25

Any appointment to be made under subsection (1) shall be notified in the Gazette.

Section 27 of the Interpretation Ordinance, 2005 [Cap. 61]

shall apply to this Code in like manner as it would have applied if

“Settlement Officer” had been herein defined to include an Assistant

Settlement Officer and “Registrar” had been defined to include an

Assistant Registrar.

The Minister may, by order signified in the Gazette, declare any area of land to be Native Area Land or Interior Area Land and thereupon such part of such area as consists of unalienated Mixed

Zone Land shall become Native Area Land or Interior Area Land, as the case may be.

The Director of Lands and Surveys may, with the approval of the Minister, by notification in the Gazette, declare that any area of land shall become Native Area Land and thereupon such part of such area as consists of Interior Area Land shall become Native Area Land.

Where the area in respect of which a declaration has been made under subsection (1), (2) or (3) comprises Native Customary

Land, such land shall be unaffected by the declaration, but any part thereof which may subsequently cease for any reason to be Native

Customary Land shall⎯

, become Mixed Zone Land; and

26

or (3), become Native Area Land:

Provided that where the area in question has been declared to be Interior Area Land under subsection (2) and such cessation is effected by the extinguishment in favour of the Government of customary rights, then such part shall become Interior Area Land.

Where the area, in respect of which a declaration has been made under subsection (1), (2) or (3), includes Reserved Land, such land shall be unaffected by the declaration:

Provided that, if such land is subsequently alienated pursuant to section 38, it shall become Mixed Zone Land or Native Area Land as may be directed by the Minister under subsection (5) of that section.

The boundaries of any area included within a declaration made under subsection (1), (2) or (3) may be modified by subsequent declaration made in like manner, but such modification shall not affect the rights and conditions appertaining to any document of title issued prior to the publication in the Gazette of such declaration.

Native customary rights

The methods by which native customary rights may be acquired are⎯

(a)

Any native customary rights may be extinguished by direction issued by the Minister which shall be—

(a)

Any person who is dissatisfied with any decision made by the Superintendent under subsection (3) on the ground that—

Subsection (3) shall apply whether the land over which the customary rights are exercised is required for a public purpose or the extinction of such rights is expedient for the purpose of facilitating alienation, but shall have no application to cases in which the Forests

Ordinance [Cap. 126 (1958 Ed.)], the National Parks and Nature

Reserves Ordinance, 1998 [Cap. 27], or any other written law, including Part V, makes other provision for the extinguishment thereof.

[Ins. Ord. No. 2/74.]

Any inheritance, acquisition, purchase, transfer, sale or disposal of or other dealing in land over which native customary rights subsist made or occurring prior to the date of coming into force of paragraph (i) of the proviso in subsection (2), and which:—

The Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri may make rules for the assessment of compensation payable for extinguishment of native customary rights under this section and section 15.

[Am. Cap. A59.]

Whenever any dispute shall arise as to whether any native customary rights exists or subsists over any State land, it shall be presumed until the contrary is proved, that such State land is free of and not encumbered by any such rights.

[Ins. Cap. A42; Am. Cap. A59.]

Native Communal Reserves

Save in so far as the contrary may be specified or provided for in any such order or by this section, rights in any land declared to be a Native Communal Reserve under subsection (1) shall be regulated by the customary law of the community for whose use it was declared to be reserved.

Notwithstanding subsection (2), but without prejudice to subsections (4) to (7) inclusive, any such land shall continue to be

State land, and the native community for whose use it was reserved or any member thereof acquiring any rights therein shall hold the same as a licensee from the Government, and if, by virtue of the provisions of this section (including the provisions of any order made under subsection (1)), any individual native customary rights become established, the issue of any document of title in respect thereof shall be in the absolute discretion of the Director:

31

Provided that the Minister may of his own motion or upon petition review and confirm or amend any exercise of such discretion.

If the Minister is satisfied that any part or any area comprised in any declaration under subsection (1) is no longer required as a Native Communal Reserve and that this subsection may be applied without causing injustice or oppression, he may by order signified in the Gazette declare that such part shall cease to form part of such Native Communal Reserve, and as from such date, if any, as from which such declaration is expressed to come into effect, or, if no such date is expressed, then as from the date of publication in the

Gazette of any such order, such part shall be at the disposition of the

Government as free and unencumbered by any right, privilege or equity in respect thereof as if it has never been declared to be a Native

Communal Reserve.

The Minister may, if he considers that the settlement provisions in Part V should be applied to the whole or any part of any

Native Communal Reserve, by order signified in the Gazette so direct, and the Director shall in such case proceed accordingly.

This section shall apply also to native land reserves constituted under section 91 of the former Land Ordinance [Cap.

(1948 Ed.)] and Native Communal Areas constituted under rule 19 of the Land Settlement Rules in like manner to all intents and purposes as if they had been constituted by order under this section, save that if the notification issued under that section or that rule, as the case may be, has not specified for which community any reserve was constituted the same shall be deemed to have been reserved for the community which has in fact made use of the same or if any dispute or question arises, for the community for which the Minister may by order issued under subsection (1) subsequently declare it is to be deemed to have been reserved.

In any case in which this section applies, the question as to whether any person, whether or not such person is a member of the native community for whose use the reserve is or is deemed to be constituted, may exercise any rights or privileges within such reserve shall be determined by the customary law of such community and by

32

such orders, if any, as may have been made under this section, and, save to the extent that any such person may be able to justify his occupation of any land comprised within such reserve, he shall be deemed to be in unlawful occupation of State land and section 209

shall apply thereto.

Native territorial domain

Any claim under subsection (1) shall be made to the

Superintendent in such form as may be provided by the Director with all evidence in support of such claim:

Provided that—

If the Director approves the claim, the Superintendent shall issue a native communal title, describing the area as a native territorial domain, which shall be used exclusively by the native community for agricultural purpose or such other purposes as may be approved by the

Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri and subject to any other terms and conditions that the Director may impose:

Provided that the native communal title shall—

In the event that the Director rejects the claim, any person aggrieved by his decision may within thirty days from the date when the decision of the Director is conveyed to him, appeal to the Minister who shall consider the appeal.

Where any question shall arise as to whether any person is a member of the native community named in the native communal title issued under subsection (3), the person or body of persons in whose name the native communal title is issued shall refer the same to the District Native Court for a decision, and such reference shall be instituted and dealt with in accordance with rules made under the

Native Courts Ordinance, 1992 [Ord. No. 9/92].

Any claim for a native territorial domain shall not be made or allowed in respect of any area or land where, before the coming into force of this section, there is a final decision by a court of competent jurisdiction that no usufructuary rights have subsisted or have been lost or abandoned by members of the native community making that claim.

[Add. Cap. A179]

Government Reserves

In any case where any area of State land has been declared to be a Government Reserve under subsection (1) the Director may by notification in the Gazette declare that the area is no longer required as a Government Reserve, and the area shall thereupon cease to be a

Government Reserve and shall be available for alienation as in the case of other State land.

34

Illegal for non-native to acquire rights or privileges over land of certain classes

a person who is not a native of Sarawak may not acquire any rights or privileges whatever over any Native Area

Land, Native Customary Land or Interior Area Land;

any agreement, purporting to transfer or confer any such rights or privileges or which would result in such person enjoying any such right or privilege, shall be deemed to have been entered into for an illegal consideration; and, in particular but without prejudice to paragraph (d), any consideration which shall have been paid or furnished shall not be recoverable in any court nor shall any relief be afforded to any person claiming that any consideration promised has not been paid or furnished;

any person purporting to enter into an agreement to which paragraph (b) applies shall be guilty of an offence:

Penalty, a fine of one thousand ringgit and, in the case of a native offender, an additional fine of a sum equivalent to the value of any consideration which the court is satisfied has been received by that native offender or has been received by another person on his behalf or by his direction;

in any case in which a person is convicted of an offence under paragraph (b), the court may, if there is reason to believe that such person did not appreciate he was contravening paragraph (a) and had no reason to believe he was entering into a prohibited transaction, impose no fine and may also, if it has imposed an additional fine on a native offender and this paragraph applies to the non-native offender, order the payment to such non-native offender out of such fine of such sum by way of compensation to the non-native offender as it may deem fit in all the circumstances;

subject as aforesaid and to any remedy for the recovery of any fine imposed, the rights and privileges of any native shall not be adversely affected by any agreement to which paragraph

applies;

35

upon any conviction of an offence under paragraph (c), the court shall have power to order the eviction of any person, being a non-native or a person claiming under a non-native in possession or occupation of any land in relation to which the offence was committed, and may for such purpose by warrant addressed to any police officer order him to remove any such person as aforesaid;

a complaint of an offence under paragraph (c) may be made by a District Officer or a Superintendent or by any person generally or specially authorized in that behalf by the Public

Prosecutor, but may not be made by any other person; and

notwithstanding anything in any other written law, a court of a Magistrate of the First Class* may exercise without any limitation the jurisdiction conferred on the court by this section.

Acquisition of land by non-natives

under or by virtue of any law for the time being regulating prospecting for minerals, including mineral oils, or the taking of forest produce;

whenever such non-native has become identified with and subject to any native system of personal law;

whenever such non-native has been issued with any permit relating to Native Area Land or Native Customary Land, issued under any rules made under section 8A of the former Land

(Classification) Ordinance, 1948 [Ord. No. 19/1948], or issued under rules in that behalf under section 213, to the extent of the rights conferred by such permit;

where such non-native has been deemed to be a native, by the Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri, by notification in the

Gazette, in respect of any category of dealing over Native Area

Land as stipulated in the notification;

[Sub. Cap. A50.]

__________

*

Now see also sections 3 and 111 of the Subordinate Courts Act 1948 (Act 92).

36

whenever such non-native has been issued with any licence under this Code to extract and remove earth, gravel, clay, stone, coral, shell, guano, sand or lime.

[Add. Ord. 18/71.]

For the purposes of this section, a person shall be deemed to have become identified with and subject to any native system of personal law upon any event upon which any written law provides he shall become so identified and subject or if he is accepted by any native community as being identified with and subject to the system of personal law of such community.

Occupation of different classes of land

No person whether a native or non-native may occupy any

Native Customary Land or any Reserved Land save under and in accordance with the conditions applicable thereto by virtue of this or any other written law, and any person in occupation thereof shall be deemed to be in unlawful occupation of State land and section 209

shall apply thereto.

Without prejudice to any law for the time being regulating the prospecting for minerals and mineral oils or the taking of forest produce, any native who, without a prior permit in writing from a

Superintendent, occupies any Interior Area Land or fells or attempts to fell virgin jungle upon any such land or attempts to create customary rights upon any such land shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, in the case of a first offence, a fine of one thousand ringgit and, in the case of a second or subsequent offence, imprisonment for two years and a fine of five thousand ringgit.

[Am. Cap. A42; Am. Cap. A61.]

37

The occupation of Interior Area Land by a native or native community without a permit in writing from a Superintendent shall not, notwithstanding any law or custom to the contrary, confer any right or privilege on such native or native community and, in any such case, such native or native community shall be deemed to be in unlawful occupation of State land and section 209 shall apply thereto.

The consent of a Superintendent for the purposes of any permit shall not be given if he considers either that he would thereby prejudice the individual or communal rights of others or that he would thereby prejudice the interests of Sarawak or its inhabitants in the area where the land applied for is situate.

Any person aggrieved by any decision of the

Superintendent may within twenty-one days appeal against such decision to the Director, who may make such order in respect thereof as he may consider just.

Any person aggrieved by any order of the Director under subsection (6) may appeal, by way of petition to the Minister, within thirty days thereafter or within such longer period as the Minister may, in any particular case, permit.

[Mod. Swk. L.N. 68/64; Am. Cap. A42.]

Director may classify land and resolve doubts as to classification of any particular area of land 11.⎯(1) The Director may divide Sarawak into Land Districts and may, for the purpose of giving effect to this or any other written law, by notification in the Gazette declare any area of land to be a special development area or to be town, suburban or land comprised in a bazaar or to be land of such class or description as may be provided for under such written law or as a prescribed zone adjoining a designated special road.

[Am. Cap. A17; Am. Cap. A119.]

38

The Director may, if he is satisfied that any parcel of land is Mixed Zone Land or Native Area Land within the meaning of section 2 as read with this Part and that it is expedient that this section shall apply thereto, by notification in the Gazette declare that such parcel is Mixed Zone Land or Native Area Land, as the case may be.

Such declaration shall, unless revoked or varied by the

Court under subsection (4) or unless the classification of the said land is subsequently altered by virtue of anything in this Part, be sufficient authority for the Registrar, any proprietor thereof and any other person to register and deal with such land as Mixed Zone Land or Native

Area Land, as the case may be.

Any person aggrieved by any declaration under subsection

may by notice in writing require the Director to state a case for the opinion of the High Court, and the Director shall comply with such requirement.

The High Court shall have power upon any case being stated under subsection (4) to determine the matter and for such purpose to amend the case stated in any manner it thinks fit.

The Court’s determination under subsection (5) shall for the purpose of any appeal be deemed to be made in a civil proceeding.

The expression “any person aggrieved” shall include any person having a right or interest in the land concerned and also the

State Attorney-General acting on behalf of the public or of any class of the public.

in perpetuity or for such terms as may be fixed by rules made under this Code for the respective classes of land referred to in such rules;

in consideration of the payment of an annual rent;

in consideration, unless the Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan

Negeri thinks fit to exempt therefrom in any particular case, of the payment of a premium, and where the alienation has been made in consideration of the payment of a premium, the amount of the premium shall be stated. The payment of the premium, if any, may be made either by a single payment or by instalments over a period not exceeding ten years as may be determined by the Superintendent;

[Am. Ord. No. 9/76; Am. Cap. A28.]

subject, unless the Director otherwise directs, to a category of land use being endorsed on the document of title; and

subject to any such other conditions and restrictions as may be imposed by the Director.

Subsection (1) shall apply with such modifications as may be necessary to the issue of licences or permits in respect of State land.

The powers hereby vested in the Director may be exercised by a Superintendent, subject to the Director’s instructions and the

Minister’s directions.

[Am. Ord. No. 18/71; Am. Ord. No. 8/84.]

The powers hereinbefore conferred shall include power to consent to modification of any conditions imposed by or on behalf of the Government, whether before or after the 1st day of January, 1958.

40

[Am. Ord. 18/71.]

Notwithstanding the powers conferred by this section,

State land shall not be alienated to any person except⎯

[Sub. Ord. 18/71.]

Nothing in this section shall authorize the alienation of any

State land whereon a planted forest has been established pursuant to a licence issued under section 65B of the Forests Ordinance [Cap.

(1958 Ed.)], until and unless such land has been declared by the

Minister to have ceased to be part of the permanent forests of the

State, but no such declaration shall be made during the period of validity of such licence without the prior written consent of the holder thereof.

[Ins. Cap. A42.]

No acquisition of land by foreigners

any person who is not a Malaysian citizen and not permanently resident in Sarawak;

any foreign company, corporation, society, association or other body, which is not registered in Malaysia under any written law applicable thereto; and

any person or body corporate which is a trustee under a trust any beneficiary of which is⎯

a person who is not a Malaysian citizen and not permanently resident in Sarawak; or

in the case of any company, corporation, society, association, bank or other body⎯

if it is registered in Malaysia under any written law applicable thereto; and

any foreign government or sovereign of any foreign country; and

42

any person or body corporate which is a trustee under a trust, any beneficiary of which is⎯

a company, corporation, society, association, bank or other body if the shares that in aggregate carry the right to exercise or control the exercise of more than fifty per cent of the voting power at any general meeting of the company, corporation, society, association, bank or other body, are held by persons who are non-Malaysian citizens;

or

any estate, interest or right lawfully acquired prior to the commencement of the Land Code (Amendment) Ordinance,

1974 [Ord. No. 2/74];

any estate, interest or right in any land acquired directly from the Government of Sarawak in consideration of the surrender to the State of any land, or in the course of the sub-division or partition of any land:

Provided however that any subsequent dealings by persons other than the Government of Sarawak shall be bound by sections 13A, 13B and 13C;

any land or estate or interest therein acquired by any bank or finance company or institution in Sarawak licensed under the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 [Act 372], where such land, or estate or interest therein has been vested in such bank or finance company or institution pursuant to an Order of the High Court made under section 50(6)(c) of the said Act.

[Ins. Cap. A17.]

Nothing in sections 13A, 13B and 13C shall apply to the

Federal Lands Commissioner or any Federal Government or State

Government statutory bodies or agencies.

[Ins. Ord. No. 2/74.]

Foreign investment in special development area

it would be of economic benefit or an advantage to the

State; or

it would encourage or facilitate foreign investment into the State, that any area of State land or any area of alienated Mixed Zone Land is to be developed or has been developed for any of the following purposes, viz⎯

44

holiday resort or such other projects for the promotion of the tourism industry in Sarawak;

special residential areas for accommodation of foreign investors or foreign workers; or

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Code or other written law relating to land, a foreign person, foreign company, foreign corporation or other foreign body may acquire an estate, interest or right in⎯

Where an instrument executed in contravention of section 13A, 13B, 13C or 13E has been registered under Part VII, the Registrar shall make an endorsement on the appropriate Register cancelling the registration thereof. Upon cancellation, any right, interest or estate acquired by virtue of the registration of that instrument shall cease forthwith.

The registered proprietor of any land and any person who is a party to any instrument or agreement of the nature referred to in subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence, and, upon conviction, shall be liable to a fine of not exceeding fifty thousand ringgit and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further penalty of five hundred ringgit per day for every day during which the offence continues.

[Added Cap. A50.]

(a)

The surrender of native customary rights under subsection (1) shall be effected by way of a deed of surrender, in such form as may be approved by the Director, and shall be signed by the

Superintendent and the person whose rights are to be surrendered to the Government for the purposes of subsection (1).

Where the provisions of this section have been complied with in the surrender of native customary rights, the Government shall not be liable—

47

The granting of permits to occupy Native Customary Land under rules made under section 213 shall not be deemed to be inconsistent with subsection (1).

Alienation of land surrendered, reverted or resumed to the

Government

alienate any land which has been reverted to the

Government pursuant to section 5(3) and (5); or

re-alienate any alienated land which has been surrendered to or resumed by the Government under Part IV, for any of the purposes specified in section 46, to any person, corporation or body of persons approved by the

Minister.

Whenever any land referred to in subsection (1) is alienated or re-alienated, as the case may be, such land shall not at any time be used for any purpose other than the development or undertaking which in the opinion of the Minister is for the benefit of the State or any part thereof or of the public generally or any class of the public.

[Ins. Cap. A23.]

48

Special condition in relation to alienation of town building lots