KOTA KINABALU: The speeding up of the issuance of native titles remains the government’s top agenda, says Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

       The Chief Minister said the government was continuing the survey works for native customary land through the PANTAS programme.

       Hajiji said the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-Barisan Nasional state government was committed to focusing on land issues as it involves the livelihood of the people.

       "The PANTAS programme, which has been implemented since 2011, is being continued by the GRS-Barisan state government as it is important to the people, particularly natives in rural areas," he said.

       He said under PANTAS, native titles were issued to people who have lived on the land for generations, and to avoid administrative delays for their applications as seen previously.

       Hajiji, who was in Sabah's Telupid district Saturday (May 14), handed over a total of 181 native titles involving an area of 524ha and issuance of a kampung reserve for Kampung Telupid Batu 4.

       "The government wants the process of issuing land grants to be expedited," he said during a visit to the district where he also launched the Telupid district development plan for 2022-2030 as well as opened the new Telupid district council building.

       In 2021, Hajiji said that the state government has successfully completed native land survey for an area of 15,511.52ha and gazetted a total of 80 kampung reserves.