STATE OF SABAH
LAND ORDINANCE
(Sabah Cap. 68)
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Ordinance/ Enactment No. |
Sections amended |
Effective date of amendment |
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10/1948 G.N.S.
124/1948 G.N.S.136/1949 G.N.S.
114/1950 2/1953 19/1953 24/1954 11/1956 31/1956 11/1959 5/1960 20/1960 3/1962 12/1962 G.N.S. 129/1963 Art.48(1) G.N.S. 139/1963 G.N.S. 87/1965 G.N.S.129/1963 Art.52(2)(b) 14/1966 19/1966 G.N.S. 3/1967 11/1967 4/1968 Fed.Ord.No.8, 1969 9/1970 8/1971 G.N.S. 10/1971 8/1972 17/1972 Act 160 20/1978 22/1978 9/1982 9/1983 4/1989 G.N.S. 17/1993 8/1994 7/1995 2/1996 |
46, 59 Sch. IV Sch. VIII, IX 50, 53(iv) 3, 4 (definition of “lease”), 6, 12, 17(1), (2), (3), 35, 39, 40(19), 48, 56, 64(1), (2), 74, 98(19), 122 2 (definition of “title”),13, 17(ii), (iii), 18(i), (ii), 55-63, 70(ii)(b), (c)(iii), 71, 78, 79 4 (definition of “Commissioner”, “Director” and “transfer”), 18(2), 30(2), 33(1), 39, 41(1), (2), 42, 43, 44(1), (2), 47(1), (3), 64(2), 70(2)(c), (3), 71(b), 75, 78(4)(b), 84, 119, 133, 162(1), (2), (3), 163 17(4) 24 4 (definition of “minor”) 79 24(2) 51(2) 71, Sch. XIA 24(1), Sch. IV Long title, 4 (definitions of “alienate”, “country land” “crown land” and “owner”), 5, 6, 7, 8, 9(1), 10, 12, 17(4), 18(1), 22, 24(2), (3), 28(1), (2), (3), 29(c), 30(1)(f), 32(1), 36(1), (2), (3), 41(1)(d), 46, 47(1), 48, 50, 53(4), 54, 55, proviso, 56(1)(b), (c), 57, 58, 70(1), (2), (3), (4), 76, 78(1), (3), (4)(b), (5), 79(1), (2), 80, 85, 97(1), 112(2), 121(2), 162(1), (2), 164, 166, 167, Sch.III, IV, XXXVII, XXXVIII 6, 10(c), (d), 17(4), 36(2), (3), 41(1)(a), 44(1), 46(a), 78(1), 80, 100, 101, 110, 172, Sch. V, IX 56(2) 17(2) Sch. XXVIII Sch. IX (“Kota Kinabalu” substituted for “Jesselton”) 97(1) 53(6), 171A 53(6), 171A Sch. VIII, X, XI, XIII, XV, XVI, XXVIII, XXXII, XXXIV 36A 97(1)(a) Throughout the Ordinance “ringgit” and “sen” substituted for “dollars” and “cents” respectively 17(2), 70(2)(c), 70(3), 78(3), (4), (4)(a) 64, 98(1) 17(1) 32(2), 134 17(5), 70(2) Sch. III 71(a) 4 (definition of “foreshore”), 6, 10(b), (c), 15(b), 17(4), 30(1)(d), (f), 31(1)(d), 32(1), (2), 40(1), 41(1)(a), 42, 46(a), 47(1), 53(2), (3), (4), (5), 54, 56(2), 69, 70(2), (3), 71(a), (b), 81, 82, 83, 84, 86, 94(2), (3), 97(1), 100, 101, 116(1), (4), 119, 121(1), (2), 142, 152, 153(1), 154, 156(1), 157(1), 160(1), 161, 166, 167, 168, 170, 171B, Sch. XXI 4, 9(1), 55 |
26-8-1948 15-11-1948 15-12-1949 15-8-1950 13-2-1953 30-4-1953 26-11-1954 12-5-1956 22-12-1956 14-10-1959 7-4-1960 1-1-1961 11-5-1962 22-9-1962 16-9-1963 16-9-1963 16-9-1963 16-9-1963 1-10-1966 28-12-1966 3-1-1967 30-12-1967 23-8-1968 9-8-1969 24-9-1970 19-9-1970 27-7-1972 28-12-1972 29-8-1975 1-1-1979 28-12-1978 26-8-1982 22-12-1983 28-12-1989 3-6-1993 15-9-1994 27-7-1995 18-6-1996 |
To regulate the alienation and occupation of State lands.
[13th December, 1930]
PART I
PRELIMINARY
This Ordinance may be cited as the Land Ordinance.
Nothing except as herein specially otherwise enacted shall affect the past operation of any written law relating to land tenure heretofore in force in the Mainland or in Labuan or of any order made or the validity or invalidity of anything done or suffered or of any right, title or interest created thereunder.
In this Ordinance the following terms shall, if not inconsistent with the context or subject matter, have the respective meanings hereby assigned to them-
“abandonment” means the failure on the part of any holder of a title to land to use such land for the purposes for which it was alienated for such period and to such extent as may be prescribed in each case;
“alienate” means to lease, or otherwise dispose of State land on behalf of the Government in consideration of the payment of such rent and of such premium, if any, as may be required;
“charge” means any charge created on land for the purpose of securing the payment of money, and also the instrument by which the charge is created;
“chargee” means the person in whose favour a charge is created, and includes the person for the time being entitled to the benefit of such charge;
“Collector” means any Collector of Land Revenue or Assistant Collector duly appointed under this Ordinance;
“country land” means all State or alienated land not included within the boundaries of a town declared under this or any previous Land Ordinance;
“Court” means the High Court;
“cultivation” with its cognate expressions means the effective use of the land for the purpose for which it was alienated;
“dealing” means any transaction of whatever nature by which land is affected under this Ordinance;
“deliver” includes to transmit by hand or post;
“Director” means the Director of Lands and Surveys or the Deputy Director of Lands and Surveys;
“foreshore” means all that land lying between the high-water mark and low-water mark of ordinary spring tides;
“guano” includes the excrement of bats and birds;
“forest produce” shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it under the
Forest Enactment, 1968;
“land” includes—
(a) the surface of the earth and all substances forming that surface;
(b) the earth below the surface and all subtances therein;
(c) all vegetation and all natural products, whether or not requiring the periodical application of labour to their production, and whether on or below the surface;
(d) all things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to any thing attached to the earth, whether on or below the surface; and
(e) land covered by water;
“land revenue” means every sum now due or which shall hereafter become due to the Government on account of premium or rent due in respect of land and fees of any kind chargeable under this Ordinance;
“lease” means any lease of land given on behalf of the Government;
“Malay Archipelago” shall include the State of Brunei Darussalam, the State of Sarawak, the States of Malaya, the Republic of Singapore, the Republic of Indonesia and the Sulu Group of the Philippine Islands;
“memorandum” means the document recording any dealing, decision or order required to be registered under this Ordinance;
“Native Court” means the Native Court as constituted by the Native Courts Enactment, 1992;
“Native Title” means an entry in the Native Title Register or in the Field Register under Part IV;
“owner” means the individual person, incorporated company, or body corporate, for the time being registered as the lessee of State land or as the holder of land comprised in an entry in the Native Title Register or Field Register, and includes a legally appointed trustee, executor, administrator, liquidator or Official Receiver;
“prescribed” means authorised by this Ordinance;
“Register of Titles” means the files or volumes of the original titles to land;
“Registrar” means a Registrar of Titles appointed under this Ordinance, and includes a Deputy Registrar of Titles;
“rent” means whatever is to be rendered on account of the use or occupation of land, whether in money or in kind;
“sub-lease” includes a letting by the owner of land held under Part IV;
“State land” means all lands which have not been and may not hereafter be reserved for any public purpose, or which have not been and may not hereafter be leased or granted to or are not and may not hereafter be lawfully occupied by any person, and includes all lands which, at the commencement of this Ordinance, may have become or which hereafter may become forfeited by reason of any breach of the conditions on which the same have been lawfully occupied, or which have been or may hereafter be surrendered to the Government by the lawful owner thereof;
“survey” means emplacing boundary marks and making, recording or computing such measurements as are necessary to define the position of boundary marks or to establish the situation and area of any land;
“title” means any Lease, Provisional Lease, or entry in the Native Title Register or in the Field Register issued under the provisions of this Ordinance;
“Town Land” means all land included within the boundaries of a town declared under this or any previous Land Ordinance;
“transfer” used in connection with land or a charge means the passing of such land or charge by act of the owner or chargee or by order of the Collector or Director or of the Court, and also the memorandum in which such passing is recorded.
The entire property in and control of State land or land reserved for a public purpose is and shall be vested solely in the Government.
(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Ordinance or in any written law relating to limitation of suits in force in Sabah, no unlawful occupation of State land or land reserved for a public purpose or residential purpose or occupation under temporary licence for however long a period shall establish any right, title or interest in State land or land reserved for a public purpose or residential purpose or create any right to demand a title to such land from the Government.
(2) Adverse possession of land for any length of time whatsoever shall not constitute a bar to the bringing of any action for the recovery thereof by the owner or any person entitled to an interest therein, and accordingly, any written law relating to the limitation of suits in force in Sabah shall in no circumstances operate to extinguish any title or interest inland.
State land for the purpose of this Ordinance is divided in the following classes-
(a) Town Lands.
(b) Country Lands.
The Minister may declare any land within certain specified limits to be town land. After the date of such declaration no more land within the defined limits may be alienated, except under section 18, otherwise than in accordance with Part III.
(1) Subject to any general or special direction of the Cabinet the Director may alienate State land on such terms or in such manner as is authorised by this Ordinance and may also impose special conditions in respect thereof to be set out in the title.
(2) In particular such conditions may specify the particular product or class of products which or which alone is to be cultivated, and may forbid the cultivation of any particular product or class of products.
State land may be alienated only to -
(a) an individual person or persons:
Provided that in the case of a minor an adult person shall be added as guardian;
(b) a company, body corporate or society registered or specifically exempted from registration under any written law:
Provided that it is not prohibited by its constitution from holding land;
(c) (Deleted);
(d) any other person or body which may hereafter be empowered by the Minister by rule hereunder to hold land within Sabah.
Except in the case of land held by trustees, when land is held by co-proprietors they shall be entitled to the land in undivided shares equally, unless some other proportion shall have been registered.
Applications for State land may be made to the Director, or to the Collector, and shall be substantially in the form of Schedule III.
Upon the receipt of any application for unalienated country land it shall be the duty of the Collector to publish a notice calling upon any claimant to native customary rights in such land who is not yet in possession of a registered documentary title to make or send in a statement of his claim within a date to be specified in the notice. If no claim is made the land shall be dealt with as if no such rights existed.
Claims to native customary rights shall be taken down in writing by the headman or by the Collector, and shall be decided by the Collector.
Native customary rights shall be held to be -
(a) land possessed by customary tenure;
(b) land planted with fruit trees, when the number of fruit trees amounts to fifty and upwards to each hectare;
(c) isolated fruit trees, and sago, rotan, or other plants of economic value, that the claimant can prove to the satisfaction of the Collector were planted or upkept and regularly enjoyed by him as his personal property;
(d) grazing land that the claimant agrees to keep stocked with a sufficient number of cattle or horses to keep down the undergrowth;
(e) land that has been cultivated or built on within three years;
(f) burial grounds or shrines;
(g) usual rights of way for men or animals from rivers, roads, or houses to any or all of the above.
(1) Native customary rights established under section 15 shall be dealt with either by money compensation or by a grant of the land to the claimant and in the latter case a title shall be issued under Part IV
(2) Where the Collector decides that native customary rights established under section 15 shall be dealt with by money compensation, the affected land together with all buildings, erection and crops thereon shall vest in the Government free from all encumbrances and shall be deemed to have been surrendered by the lawful claimant thereof upon such decision being made.
(1) Except with the written permission of the Minister all dealings in land between non-natives on the one hand and natives on the other hand are hereby expressly forbidden and no such dealings shall be valid or shall be recognised in any court of law unless they shall have been entered into and concluded before the 16th day of January, 1883, or in the terms of the next following clause.
(2) Any non-native desirous of purchasing land from a native shall address his application to the Secretary of Natural Resources who, if he sees fit to sanction such purchase, shall, if the native owner consent, require such native owner to execute a memorandum of surrender of the title and shall fix the premium and rent at which the land shall be leased by the Government to the applicant and such new lease shall be issued under Part II or III.
(3) Nothing in subsection (1) or (2) shall be held to prevent dealings in land between any non-native and a native who is the holder of a lease issued under Part II or Part III in respect of such land.
(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section and of section 64 it shall be lawful for the owner of land held under the provisions of Part IV to execute a memorandum of charge over such land in favour of the Sabah Credit Corporation incorporated under the provisions of the Credit Corporation Enactment 1981 or any bank or finance company licensed under the provisions of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989, any Islamic bank licensed under the provisions of the Islamic Banking Act 1983 or any other company or body corporate approved by the Yang di-Pertua Negeri,* and in such case the Corporation, bank or other authorised person, for the purposes of the registration of any such charge or the exercise of any legal powers yested in it by the terms of such charge or under the provisions of this Ordinance in respect of such charge shall have and may exercise all the rights and powers as if such land were charged to a native and may transfer its interest under such charge or, if thereto entitled, cause the land to be transferred to any such persons as, having regard to the conditions of title, may obtain registration of such transaction.
Subleasse of Native Title to non-native.
(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section and of section 64, it shall be lawful for the owner of land held under the provisions of Part IV to grant a sub-lease of such land to a non-native for a term not exceeding ninety-nine years.
(1) The Collector may issue Temporary Occupation Licenees in the form of Schedule IV for the use of any State land for temporary purposes as may be specified in such licences. Any Temporary Occupation Licence issued under this subsection shall be non-transferable and shall be subject to the payment of such fee and to such other conditions as the Collector shall be endorse on such licence.
(2) No such licence shall be issued for a longer period than three years:
Provided that the Collector may renew such licence from time to time for any period provided that no licence shall be extended so that the total consecutive period of such licence, including any renewals, extends beyond three years unless the Director by writing under his hand agrees to such extension.
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) all lots shall be surveyed, and lines, boundary stones or other landmarks be set up and kept in repair by or at the expense of the lessees to the satisfaction of the Collector.
(2) The survey of lots held under Temporary Occupation Licence may be dispensed with if the Collector shall think fit.
A title shall be deemed to alienate only the land within the boundaries as marked on the ground at the time of the survey on which the title is based.
The date of commencement of any title shall be the date on which the selection of the block of land has been approved, unless otherwise expressly provided.
No definitive lease or title shall be issued until survey shall have been completed and all expenses and fees that may be due to Government in connection with the land comprised in the title shall have been paid by the owner:
Provided that the Minister may in particular cases or generally permit the postponement of payment of such expenses and fees on such conditions as he may deem fit.
In the absence of any express provision to the contrary, every document of title issued under the provisions of this Ordinance shall be deemed to vest in the holder thereof a surface right only in the land granted, and no right shall be conveyed thereby to remove beyond the boundaries of the said land, without licence, any timber or other forest produce or any earth, gravel, stones, coral, shell, guano, sand, loam or clay, or any bricks, lime, cement or other commodities manufactured from the materials aforesaid.
24. Minerals reserved to the
Government
(1) All coal, minerals, precious stones and mineral oils are, and are deemed always to have been, reserved to the Government, together with the right to enter upon any lands and to search for, win, carry away and dispose of such articles in, on or under the same, and to resume such portions of land as may be necessary for examining or working any mines or for the removal of the products thereof, upon payment of compensation to the owner for damage to such lands or buildings thereon.
(2) It shall be lawful, and shall be deemed always to have been lawful, for the Minister to grant licences under this Ordinance to others to search for, win, carry away and dispose of mineral oils and to grant leases of the same, together with the right to enter upon and occupy any lands for the purpose of operations under any such licences or leases, and all such other rights incidental or supplementary thereto as to him may seem proper.
(3) Every such licence or lease shall be for such period and upon such terms as the Minister may think fit, provided that such licence or lease shall be subject to the condition that the licensee or lessee shall pay reasonable compensation for all damage or injury to the property and rights of other persons which may be done or caused by such licensee, lessee or his servants or agents in exercise of the powers and liberties conferred by such licence, lease or right.
(4) In this section the expression “mineral oils” includes natural petroleum gas, bitumen, asphalt and other bituminous substances, with the exception of coal.
(1) Unless otherwise expressly provided in any title, the entire property in and control of the waters of all rivers, creeks, streams and watercourses, and of the seashore below high water mark is and shall be vested solely in the Government.
(2) The Government also has power to reserve such portion of land as may be deemed advisable along the banks of rivers, streams or creeks, or along the seashore above high water mark, or along the ridges of hills. Such reservations shall be shown on all documents of title.
The amount of compensation payable under sections 24, 25 and 30 shall be determined, in so far as may not be inconsistent with the provisions of these sections, in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Land Acquisition Ordinance.
(1) The Yang di-Pertua Negeri may reserve any State lands which in his opinion are required for any public purpose or for a residential reserve. Such reservation shall fully describe the land and the purpose for which it is reserved and shall be conclusive evidence that the land is reserved for a public or residential purpose.
(2) When any land has been reserved under this or any previous Land Ordinance and such reservation has not been revoked, every disposition thereof, except for the purpose for which such reservation was made, shall be void:
Provided that the Yang di-Pertua Negeri may, in any case in which a reserve has been created solely for the protection and furtherance of public works, authorise the officer for the time being having the control of such reserve to sanction the issue of leases by the Collector of the whole or any portion thereof, for any period not exceeding twenty-one years.
(3) The Yang di-Pertua Negeri may revoke any such reservation in whole or in part:
Provided that except in the case of any reserve created solely for the protection and furtherance of public works, there shall be no revocation unless -
(a) notice that it is proposed to revoke such reservation together with particulars of a time and place at which persons desiring to show cause against such revocation will be heard shall have been posted locally, and shall also have been published in two consecutive ordinary issues of the Gazette; and
(b) the persons attending at the time and place so appointed shall have been heard.
In every title there shall, by virtue of this Ordinance, be implied, in the absence of an express provision to the contrary, the following obligations on the part of the owner-
(a) the owner will duly pay, at the time and place and to the person prescribed for that purpose, the rent specified in the title, and any other land revenue tha may be or become due:
Provided that when the land is held by co-proprietors they shall be jointly and severally liable;
(b) all landmarks by which the boundaries of such land are defined shall be duly maintained;
(c) no portion of such land shall be used for the burial of a human body without the written authority under the Burials Ordinance.
The aforesaid obligations shall run with the land, and shall bind the owner or owners thereof for the time being in like manner as if their name or names were substituted in the title for that of the original owner.
(1) The following specified rights are reserved to the Government -
(a) the right at all times to take timber, earth, stone, clay, sand and other road-making material for the construction and repairs of railways, telegraphs, roads, bridges and other public works from alienated lands on payment of compensation for actual damage sustained by the owner;
(b) the right of making drains and sewers, constructing irrigation works and survey stations, laying down water pipes, erecting wires for telegraphs and other electric communications, and using, repairing and maintaining the same upon such land without paying compensation therefor. The officers of the Government and all persons thereunto duly authorised shall, at all reasonable times, have free access to such land for such purposes:
Provided that, where such works interfere with improvements, buildings or cultivated ground, compensation shall be allowed for disturbance or damage and the amount of such compensation shall be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Land Acquisition Ordinance;
(c) the
right to authorise others to exercise the powers reserved in paragraphs (a) and (b);
(d) the right to resume without payment from any land held under a Provisional Lease or entry in a Field Register a section not exceeding twenty metres in width for the purpose of making a public road, railway, tramway, right of way, canal, irrigation channel, aqueduct, watercourse, drain or sewer through the said land in any direction provided always that reasonable compensation shall be paid to any person for any actual damage caused to his property by exercise of such right;
(e) the right to the Collector to cause any tree on alienated land to be felled, trimmed or removed on payment of compensation for the actual damage involved;
(f) the right of the Collector of the district in which the land referred to is situated, on payment of compensation for the actual damage involved, to mark out over the said land a road or way to provide means of approach or access to any State land or Forest Reserve for the purpose of the removal therefrom of timber or other forest produce whether by a public servant or by any person duly authorised by the Government in that behalf, and in such case public servants and persons duly authorised as aforesaid shall for the purpose of the removal of such timber or other forest produce, but not otherwise, be entitled to the use and benefit of such road or way in the same manner and to the same extent as if the said road or way were a public road or way and the owner of the land shall not obstruct such use;
(g) the right to the Collector and the officers duly authorised by him to have free access at all reasonable times to any alienated land.
(2) The amount of compensation payable under paragraphs (a), (d), (e) and (f) of subsection (1) shall be assessed by the Collector subject to an appeal to the Director whose decision shall be final.
(1) Every title shall, by virtue of this Ordinance, be subject, in the absence of an express provision to the contrary, to the following implied conditions in respect of the land contained therein -
(a) the land revenue due in respect of such land shall be a first charge on such land;
(b) a Provisional Lease or Field Register shall give no claim to any area occupied in excess of the area mentioned therein;
(c) payment of rent on the area mentioned in a Provisional Lease or Field Register shall give no right to registration of a Lease or Native Title to the whole extent of that area if on survey the area is found not to be available;
(d) any owner of alienated land, whether his title be of a date prior or subsequent to the commencement of this Ordinance, may apply to the Collector of the district in which his land is situate for a right of way from his land over any other alienated land to the nearest public road or a river or foreshore, or for permission to construct a drain or irrigation channel across such land, and the Collector shall deal with the application in the manner prescribed.
(2) The owner or occupier of any land over which a road or way shall be marked out under the provisions of subsection (1)(d) shall have no claim to compensation in respect thereof otherwise than as prescribed.
(3) When a right of way has been marked out under the powers conferred by section 30 or by this section the Collector shall have power to call for the production to him of any document of title involved and to endorse, or cause to be endorsed, on any such document of title a description and plan of such right of way.
(1) Subject to the provisions of the following sub- sections, the rent of all State lands sold or alienated prior to or after the coming into force of this Ordinance shall be liable to periodical revision, which may result in either enhancement or reduction.
(2) The first revision under this section may take place on or after 1st January, 1940, and subsequent revisions may take place at successive intervals of not less than fifteen years
(3) At each such revision the rent reserved to the Government in respect of any such land may be revised by the Collector, but in making such revision no improvements made by the landowner or his predecessors in title shall be taken into account.
(1) In the case of any owner who shall have fulfilled the condition of his lease as to cultivation, there may be endorsed on his lease and signed by the Director a memorandum to the effect that such condition has been fulfilled and that no further liability attaches to the said land in respect thereof.
(2) No memorandum endorsed on a lease under this section shall be held to bar or nullify any subsequent action that may be taken under section 36 in the event of the abandonment of the land held under the said lease.
(1) In the absence of an express condition to the contrary in the document of title, there shall by virtue of this section be implied in every document of title the condition that in case of a breach or default in the observance of any of the conditions of the said title, whether expressed or implied by this Ordinance, or any previous Land Ordinance, the Government may re-enter upon the land held thereunder and resume the whole or any portion thereof.
(2) The retention by an owner of land alienated under Part III or Part IV of such an area under jungle or uncultivated as may be necessary in the opinion of Government for the purpose of protecting existing cultivation or for the proper and effectual management of the estate shall not be held to be a breach of conditions of title within the meaning of this section.
(1) No acceptance by or on behalf of the Government of any land revenue nor any permission to occupy in expectation of registration of title nor any omission by the Government to enforce any right of resumption or escheat arising from the failure of an owner to comply with the terms of any cultivation clause or other condition of title shall be held to have operated or to operate as a waiver by the Government of any right of forfeiture or resumption or escheat accruing by reason of any breach of or default in the observance of any term or condition expressed or implied to which such title or permission may be subject.
(2) This section shall apply to all titles whether issued prior to or after the date of this Ordinance.
(1) When any land or portion of any land held under this Ordinance shall appear to the Collector to have been abandoned by the owner thereof for three years or upwards notwithstanding that rent may have been paid during the whole or any part of such period, the Collector with the sanction of the Minister may declare, by a notice substantially in the form of Schedule V published three times at least in the Gazette, served, if possible, upon the owner and posted on the land or in places of public resort in the district, that if the cultivation or occupation of such land or such portion thereof as may be specified is not resumed within six months, he will re-enter upon the land on behalf of the Government.
(2) At the expiration of the period so allowed the Collector shall make a report to the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of the proceedings taken by him, which report shall contain a description of the land, together with the boundaries thereof, and shall state whether such cultivation or occupation shall have been resumed.
(3) Upon receipt of such report the Yang di-Pertua Negeri may declare that such land or such portion thereof as may be specified has been resumed by the Government, and the same shall thereupon revert to and become the property of the Government:
Provided that when cultivation or occupation has been partially or wholly resumed in a bona fide manner at the time of the report mentioned in subsection (2), the portion of the land so cultivated or occupied shall not be liable to resumption under this section.
(4) In the absence of special conditions -
(a) agricultural land shall be deemed to have been abandoned if not kept under cultivation to the extent of one third of its area by the owner or by any person on his behalf,
(b) residential or shop lots shall be deemed to have been abandoned if the buildings thereon shall have been demolished or not maintained for the period prescribed in a habitable or usable state of repair.
(1) When it shall appear to the Collector that the owner of any land has left the State and for a period of ten years has been absent continuously from the State and has failed to appoint an Attorney or an agent resident in the State in relation to the said land, the Collector with the sanction of the Minister may, notwithstanding that rent may have been paid during the whole or any part of such period, declare by a notice published in the Gazette to that effect and that if the owner shall fail to disprove such facts within three months, he will re-enter upon the land on behalf of the Government.
(2) If at the end of the three months from the date of the publication of the Gazette, the fact that the owner has left the State and has been absent from the State continuously for a period of ten years without appointing an Attorney or agent resident in the State in relation to the said land shall not be disproved, the Collector shall present to the Registrar a memorandum to that effect, and upon registration thereof the entire property in and control of the said land shall revert to and vest in the Government, and all rights and interests of any person thereunder shall cease.
(1) If the Collector shall at any time have reason to believe that there is no owner of any land surviving, he shall present to the Registrar a memorandum to that effect, and the Registrar shall thereupon register it as prescribed in Part V.
(2) Within three months from the date of such memorandum the Collector shall, by a notice in the form of Schedule VI to be published in four ordinary issues of the Gazette and posted, if practicable, upon the land, declare that he has reason to believe that there is no owner surviving and that if, by a date to be specified in the notice, the fact that there is no owner surviving shall not have been disproved, or no proceedings shall have been instituted for the appointment of a legal representative or successor to the late owner, the land shall be resumed by the Government.
(3) The date to be specified in the notice shall be five years from the date of the memorandum mentioned in subsection (1).
(4) If upon the specified date the fact that there is no owner surviving shall not have been disproved, and no proceedings shall have been instituted for the appointment of a legal representative or successor, the Collector shall present to the Registrar a memorandum to that effect in the form of Schedule VII, and upon registration thereof the entire property in and control of the said land shall revert to and vest in the Government, and all rights and interests of any person thereunder shall cease.
Land held under a title issued either before or after the commencement of this Ordinance may at any time be surrendered to the Government in accordance with the procedure laid down in section 112 and the document of title delivered up, and upon registration of such surrender as hereinafter provided, the land shall vest in the Government free of all encumbrances:
Provided that -
(a) notice of the intention to surrender shall have been served upon all persons having interests registered against the title, and they have had an opportunity of showing cause to the Collector why such surrender should not be accepted; and
(b) the Collector may refuse to accept a surrender unless all arrears of rent or other land revenue that may be due from such land shall have been paid.
In the absence of an express condition to the contrary in the document of title any owner of two or more contiguous lots may, subject to the provisions of any written law for the time being in force relating to Town Planning or governing the size, shape or area of land to be held under any single title, combine the same in one lot, and the title to such one lot shall be subject to such of the conditions set forth in the documents of title to the several lots as the Director may select.
(1) If the owner of any land comprised in any document of title is desirous of dividing or partitioning such land, application shall be made to the Collector to accept a surrender of such title and to issue new leases or make new entries in the Register relating to the land comprised therein in such lots as the owner may desire. The Collector shall thereupon in lieu thereof and subject to the provisions of any written law for the time being in force relating to Town Planning or governing the size, shape or area of land to be held under any single title, issue such titles as may be required, on the terms of the original title:
Provided that all arrears of rent and charges, if any, due under the original title shall have been satisfied:
And provided further that the Director shall impose additional premium and the rent payable to the Government in respect of each of such sub-divisions and shall enter such amounts on the new titles and also impose special conditions in respect thereof to be set out in the titles.
The rent, if any, reserved on each parcel shall not be less than fifty sen in the case of a lease or twenty sen in the case of a Native Title.
(2) When land is held by co-proprietors, any one of them may claim to have a partition of the land made:
Provided that if the land be subject to a charge or sublease no partition shall be made unless the chargee or lessee as the case may be shall have given his consent to such partition.
(3) In the absence of agreement between the parties the question of partition shall be decided, in the case of Native Titles by the Native Court, and in other cases by the Collector in accordance with rules hereunder.
(1) An appeal shall lie from any order or decision of a Collector, Surveyor or Registrar given under this Ordinance to the Director, and again from any order or decision of the Director, whether original or an appeal, to the Court:
Provided that no appeal shall be admitted -
(a) after the expiration of thirty days from the date of the order or decision appealed against;
(b) until the prescribed fees shall have been paid;
(c) if it is expressly provided that the order or decision shall be final or if any other form of appeal is prescribed;
(d) from any decision of the Director under section 9 of this Ordinance.
Jurisdiction of Courts barred.
(2) Except as herein expressly provided, no Court shall exercise jurisdiction as to any claim or question in respect of which jurisdiction is given by this Ordinance to a Collector or the Director.
The Director may at any time call for the record of any case heard by any Collector or other officer under this Ordinance and may of his own motion revise or overrule the decision on given, or make such order thereon as may appear just. An appeal shall lie from any order given on such revision in accordance with the provisions of section 41:
Provided that no order or decision shall be made to the prejudice of any person unless such person has been given an opportunity of being heard.
Any order or decision of a Collector or of the Director given under this Ordinance may be enforced as regards monetary payments by the procedure prescribed in Part VII:
Provided that no order for the sale of land shall be made during the pendency of any appeal that may have been instituted under section 41. Orders affecting land shall be registered as required by Part V and may be enforced under section 121.
(1) For the purpose of any enquiry made by a Collector or by the Director, the Collector or Director, as the case may be, may require by a summons under his hand any person being within Sabah to attend before him and, if necessary, to produce all documents in his possession relating to any right to or interest in such land.
(2) The Collector or Director, as the case may be, may also examine upon oath, or solemn affirmation having the force of an oath, any person so summoned touching any right to such land or interest in the same.
(3) Every person so summoned or examined shall be legally bound to attend as required by the summons, and to produce all such documents as aforesaid, and to answer on oath or affirmation any lawful question put to him.
A copy of any application, letter, document or instrument of any kind whatsoever relating to any purchase, reservation, grant or title in respect of land, certified as correct by the officer having the custody thereof, shall be admissible in evidence in every case in which the original would be admissible.
The Yang di-Pertua Negeri may -
(a) make rules* not inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance for more effectually carrying out the land administration of Sabah, and in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, may by such rules make provision with respect to-
(i) the mode and manner in which applications for State land are made;
(ii) the issue of licences for the purposes of removal of articles specified in sections 23, 24 and 25 and the regulation and control of the operations under such licences;
(iii) the control and management of land reserved under sections 28 and 78;
(iv) the procedure for the sale of land by public auction required by or under the Ordinance to be sold;
(v) the payments to be made under licences and permits issued under the Ordinance;
(vi) the fees to be paid in connection with any matter arising under the Ordinance;
(vii) the forms to be used in connection with any matter arising under the Ordinance;
(viii) the mode and manner of collection of land revenue;
(ix) the manner and procedure for dealing with any enquiry and application under the Ordinance;
(x) the mode of service of notices required to be served under the Ordinance;
(xi) the partition of land under section 40(3);
(xii) the user of land alienated under the Ordinance;
(xiii) the powers and duties of any officer appointed under section 47;
(xiv) offences for the contravention of such rules and penalties thereof; and
(xv) all procedural and other matters which by this Ordinance are required or permitted to be prescribed or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed;
(b) add to, alter or rescind any of the forms contained in the Schedules or substitute other forms therefor or prescribe additional forms.
(1) The Minister may from time to time, by notification in the Gazette, appoint, and when appointed cancel the appointment of, a Director of Lands and Surveys, a Deputy Director of Lands and Surveys and such Land Officers, Collectors, Assistant Collectors, Surveyors, Registrars and other officers, for such districts and for such duties as he may consider necessary for carrying out the provisions of this Ordinance and he may by such notification or by subsequent notification declare that any duty imposed upon or power vested in any appointee under this subsection may or shall be carried out by or exercised by any other such appointee.
(2) In any district in which there may be one or more Assistant Collectors as well as a Collector, every Assistant Collector shall exercise his powers and perform his duties in conformity with the directions of the Collector.
(3) In addition to the powers conferred upon him by this Ordinance the Director may exercise the powers of a Collector.
PART II
COUNTRY LANDS
Subject to any special exceptions made by the Minister in particular cases every lease under this part shall be substantially in the form of Schedule VIII, and shall be for a term not exceeding ninety-nine years.
(1) If the immediate survey of any land is impracticable, the Collector may authorise the use and occupation of such land and shall thereupon issue a Provisional Lease in the form of Schedule IX subject to the conditions on which a lease would ordinarily issue.
(2) Such document shall specify the extent and describe as nearly as may be the situation of the land to which it relates, and after the survey of the land so occupied it shall be called in and cancelled and a lease issued in lieu thereof.
Subject to any general or special direction by the Minister the premium, rent and other terms upon which a lease may be granted under this Part shall be subject to the approval of the Director.
(1) In cases where premium is required, the situation and quality of the land and the value of the timber thereon will form the basis for calculating the amount of premium chargeable.
Payment of premium.
(2) The premium must be paid on or before the issue of the title:
Provided that the Collector may, in his discretion, allow premium to be paid in instalments over a period not exceeding six years. If default is made in the due payment of. any premium the land shall revert to the Government and any monies paid on account thereof shall be forfeited.
Country lands may also be disposed of in lots by public auction, the upset price, rent and other particulars being clearly stated in the conditions of sale.
(1) In all cases a bona fide commencement to bring land under cultivation must be made within six months from the date of the commencement of the title.
(2) In cases where the area does not exceed 40 hectares the whole area shall be brought into cultivation within three years.
(3) In cases where the area exceeds 40 hectares but does not exceed 250 hectares one-fifth of the total area shall be brought into cultivation during each successive year.
(4) In the case of lands exceeding 250 hectares the lease shall be granted in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance, but with such conditions as to cultivation, rent, forfeiture or otherwise as may be imposed in each case by the Minister:
Provided that in the event of the sub-division of any such lease, and the sale or transfer of any part thereof, every part so sold or transferred shall be subject to such rent per acre and to such other conditions as to cultivation, forfeiture and otherwise as the Minister may think fit in each case to impose:
And provided further that no rent shall be chargeable on sub-division of rent-free leases.
(5) In the absence of any special condition as to cultivation, every sub-division of any grant shall be subject to the provisions of subsection (2), (3) or (4) above according as the area of such sub-division does not exceed 40 hectares, exceeds 40 hectares but does not exceed 250 hectares or exceeds 250 hectares; and the date from which the cultivation clause shall take effect shall be the date of registration of such sub-division.
(6) This section shall only apply to land held under a document of title which contains no special conditions as to cultivation.
Land which has been alienated under this Part or under similar part of any previous Land Ordinance shall not be used for other than agricultural purposes except with permission of the Minister who may impose additional premium or rent or add or substitute such terms and conditions as he may think fit.
PART II
TOWN LANDS
No Town Land shall be alienated otherwise than to the highest bidder at a public auction or auction restricted to persons declared to be competent to bid thereat:
Provided that the Cabinet may in any particular case authorise the alienation of such land without auction and in such case the terms, conditions, covenants and restrictions applicable to such alienation shall be as the Cabinet may direct.
(1) No Town Land shall be auctioned unless and until-
(a) the land shall have been delineated on a survey plan;
(b) the upset price (if any) of the land to be auctioned and the terms and conditions of the auction thereof shall have been approved by the Minister;
(c) the terms, conditions, covenants and restrictions applicable to such alienation shall have been approved by the Minister; and
(d) a notice of the intended auction and of the terms and conditions thereof shall have been published in the Gazette not less than one month prior to such auction.
(2) No Government officer having any duty to perform in connection with any auction of land under this Part shall either directly or indirectly bid for, acquire or attempt to acquire any interest in the land offered at such auction with-out the permission of the State Secretary first had and obtained.
Subject to any special exception made by the Minister in the form or term of any particular lease, every title to Town Land alienated under this Part shall be a Town Lease substantially in the form of Schedule VIII and shall be for a term not exceeding ninety-nine years.
Where any Town Land has been classified under the provisions of any former written law or made the subject of a restrictive covenant or condition as to its use, such land shall not be used for any other purpose and any use of Town Land otherwise than in accordance with such classification, covenant or condition shall be deemed to be a breach of condition as referred to in section 34.
PART IV
NATIVE LANDS
(1) This Part shall apply only to lands held by natives, and no non-native may purchase any land held under this Part, unless in accordance with the terms of section 17, or acquire any interest therein by way of charge or otherwise.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of any written law, any power of attorney whereof the donee or any donee is a non-native, if it relates to any land held under this Part, shall be null and void.
(3) In respect of any country land held in Labuan under any title by any native prior to the 31st day of December, 1952, such native may, at any time not later than the 1st day of February, 1954, apply in writing to the Director through the Collector for the district of Labuan to be registered as the owner of such land by entry in the Register of Natives Titles kept in the Labuan district under this Part and upon being satisfied that such applicant is a native and that the land is used for any of the purposes set out in subsection (2) of section 70 the Director may, upon the registration of a memorandum of surrender of the former title to such land executed by the applicant, direct the Collector for the district of Labuan to register a Native Title for such land in the name of the applicant. Every such Native Title shall be subject to payment of an annual rent at the rate of fifty sen per acre from the date of registration thereof and to such express conditions as may be imposed by the Director.
“Customary tenure” means the lawful possession of land by natives either by continuous occupation or cultivation for three or more consecutive years or by title under this Part or under the Poll Tax Ordinance*, or Part IV of the Land Ordinance, 1913.
Customary tenure shall confer upon the holder thereunder a permanent heritable and transferable right of use and occupancy in his land subject only, in addition to the general provisions of Part I of this Ordinance to -
(a) the duty of preparing his padi fields and planting padi, cleaning, working and cultivating his garden, orchards or sago lands in such manner as may be prescribed;
(b) the liability to give his labour free, when required by the Collector or Native Chief or Headman, for the performance of such works and duties for the common benefit of himself and neighbouring land holders as may be prescribed.
(1) A Register of Native Titles shall be kept in each district in the form of Schedule X.
Title for land held on customary tenure.
(2) Any native who holds his land under customary tenure without documentary title may be required by order of the Collector in writing to take out title by entry in the Native Title Register and to pay the prescribed fees for such title.
Extract from Register.
(3) A certified copy of the entry in the Native Title Register may be issued to the owner and shall be signed by the Collector and shall have marked thereon a plan of the land to which it refers.
(1) If the immediate demarcation of any land is impracticable the Collector shall authorise by entry in the Field Register in the form of Schedule XI the use and occupancy of such land subject to the conditions which attach to title by entry in the Native Title Register, and may issue to the owner a copy of the entry in the Field Register.
(2) Such entry shall specify the extent and describe as nearly as may be the situation of the land to which it relates and, after the demarcation of the land so occupied, it shall be cancelled and an entry in the Native Title Register made in lieu thereof.
69. Claims to land based upon customary tenure.
Claims to land based upon customary tenure shall be decided by the Collector acting under section 82 subject to the appeal provided for in sections 41 and 84.
(1) Applications for State land under this Part shall be made to the Collector, and shall be dealt with without delay and as far as possible in the order in which they are received.
Use of land for agricultural purposes.
(2) Land which is to be or has been alienated under this Part or under similar part of any previous Land Ordinance shall not be used for other than agricultural purposes except with the permission of the Minister who may impose additional premium or rent or add or substitute such terms and conditions as he may think fit.
Limit of area.
(3) No State land shall be alienated under this Part for an area which shall exceed twenty hectares:
Provided that the Director may, with the consent of the Secretary of Natural