27th March, 2015

By MARUTIN ANSIUNG

KENINGAU: The villagers of Kampung Ulu Keningau, Jalan Kimanis can heave a sigh of relief after an applicant of a 50-acre land in their settlement has been told to leave the area.

Community leaders in three villages who had strongly objected to the land application expressed their gratitude to the Lands & Surveys Department and its office in Keningau for promptly issuing the notice to the applicant.

Samalang village head Aliman Nulantan said they were grateful to the department for quickly attending to their plight and expelling the workers who were already clearing the land in Kampung Ulu Keningau since a week ago.

We highly appreciate the efforts of the department in solving the dispute by making a check on the land application PT 2012131415 by one Thien Swee Jin @ Annie Thien and then confirming it as invalid because the location of the land applied for was at Mile 16 of Jalan Kimanis, said Aliman yesterday.

He also hoped that the land application by Annie Thien will be cancelled with immediate effect and the area given to the residents in the villages of Samalang, Keningau and Ulu Keningau who are the early settlers in the area. On Tuesday the local newspapers highlighted the land dispute with the three community leaders expressing their strong objection after discovering the 50-acre area had been applied for even though the villagers had previously submitted applications twice.

They applied in 1976 and again in the 1980s but were denied because the Sabah Parks did not permit land in that area to be applied for settlement.

The community leaders are Native Chief Representative (WKAN) Jassin Lumau, Samalang village head Aliman Nulantan, Keningau village chief Joanis Doimpin and Ulu Keningau village chief Petrus Langkihang all expressed their objection to the application on the basis that the area applied for had been settled by local villagers since the 1980s.

They had asked the State government and the relevant authorities to intervene in the dispute.

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Relief for villagers of Kampung Ulu Keningau along Jalan Kimanis

Control of the upper house will be crucial for Mike Baird's plan to partially lease the electricity network, but this result is more uncertain than who will form the government.

A tablecloth ballot paper enlarged by 19 micro parties, one of which, No Land Tax, has won the prized left-hand spot most likely to draw the donkey vote, adds to the drama.

While it may be a new reality for Canberra, minor parties have controlled the upper house of the NSW Parliament for two decades.

Horse trading with the Christian Democrats and Shooters and Fishers Party have become essential skills for the NSW government of the day to get its agenda passed into legislation. The Greens, with five seats, usually side with Labor.

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The previous Liberal and Nationals government needed both the Christian Democrats and Shooters on side to get the budget and signature legislation passed. This meant Barry O'Farrell grappled with controversial minor party demands, such as shooting in national parks, and foetal personhood legislation.

A falling out with the Shooters resulted in key legislation, including planning reform, being blocked.

The same fate potentially awaits any poles and wires bill. The Shooters have campaigned on opposing it, and the Reverend Fred Nile has raised concerns about job protections (he wants five-year job assurances for electricity workers under any lease), and Chinese ownership, and wants an inquiry.

Like many governments before it, Baird's team, if re-elected, is hoping to strengthen its arm in the upper house by picking up a crucial extra seat, or nine, on Saturday night.

But the luck of the No Land Tax party, a group of real estate investors backed by a six-figure campaign, in gaining the prominent left-hand position on the ballot, may work against this.

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Upper house result will be critical for Baird's electricity plan

Work will continue this week to clear trees on a southern section of Brunswick Town Center by the contractor hired by McKinley Development Co. The land has been set aside for an assisted-living complex.

The city has an agreement to sell 18.2 acres of property at Brunswick Town Center to Canton-based McKinley Development for $1.8 million with the promise to construct a hotel, apartments and senior living facilities.

In November, the city Planning Commission approved an initial site plan for Danbury Place, a two-story, 101-unit senior living facility, and Brunswick Lake Apartments, a three-building complex. Final designs have not yet been approved.

City Manager Tony Bales said the land is still owned by the city, but trees are being cleared under an agreement between McKinley and the city.

They have a $25,000 performance bond to protect the city and they paid $5,000 to provide inspection services to make sure theyre not deviating from the plan, Bales said.

Work was halted temporarily Tuesday afternoon when the city discovered the contractor had not registered with the city, but Bales said the paperwork was corrected and work should resume this week.

We were aware they were taking the trees down, but we did stop them because the contractor wasnt registered with the city, Bales said. It was just a matter of knowing who is completing the work and having their information on file.

Bill Lemmon of McKinley Development said he was unaware his contractor had not registered with the city, and said it was up to the contractor to make sure rules and ordinances are followed.

We didnt know until we heard he was shut down, Lemmon said. He should have registered.

Lemmon reassured residents the contractor will try to save as many trees as possible.

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Contractors clearing land to build assisted-living facility in Brunswick

E Mulch Land Clearing
E Mulch Land Clearing.

By: E-Mulch

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E Mulch Land Clearing - Video

Vegetation being dumped in one asset-protection zone. Photo: Stop the Chop

The Blue Mountains City Council has joined resident groups in Sydney to renew calls for the tightening of land-clearing laws that have enabled many home owners to clear nearby bushland without a permit.

The so-called 10/50 clearing code allows people living in bushfire-prone areas to fell trees within 10 metres of any house and clear other vegetation out to 50 metres to reduce fire hazards.

Bending to a public outcry that many trees were being cut merely to improve views or boost a property's re-sale value, the government in November narrowed the areas covered by the code and asked the Rural Fire Service to review the policy.

Clearing trees: eight large trees cut in East Killara. Photo: Stop the Chop

However, the Blue Mountains City Council this week voiced its concerns again, with the council members unanimously passing a "mayoral minute" that noted the impacts of the code were cumulative but "not readily measurable" since residents aren't required to give notice of their clearing.

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"This was meant to be about bushfire protection," mayor Mark Greenhill said. "It was not meant to be a new way of land-clearing with no regulation around it."

The relaxing of land-clearing laws was prompted by the 2013 bushfires, which destroyed close to 200 homes in the Blue Mountains.

Vegetation being dumped in bushland. Photo: Stop the Chop

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Blue Mountains council: call for 10/50 tree-clearing law to be tightened

While the new land acquisition law and ordinance are agitating the nation, the Supreme Court has been quietly clearing hundreds of cases relating to the issue in the past three months. The bench of the Chief Justice brought the records from the storeroom and disposed of them, as if to clear the way for litigation under the new law.

There are lessons for the future from these dog-eared files. Some of the acquisitions were two decades old, like Union of India vs Ram Lal (1989) or Patel Punajbhai vs N. Gujarat University (1987). The landowners trudge a long way to reach the apex court. They move the 'reference court' to begin with, then the high court and lastly, the Supreme Court. There are reviews in between and at the end. The longest pause is at the high court level, sometimes running to a decade. The Supreme Court takes five years on an average.

By the time the appeals reach the Supreme Court, some landowners might have bequeathed their cases to their heirs. It shows in the title of cases such as, Land Acquisition Officer vs Krishnayya (DEAD), which was lying in the Supreme Court since 2007. New acquisitions could also be caught in such debilitating litigation. The government, therefore, must realise the perils of neglecting legal infrastructure and underestimating the shrewdness of the legal profession.

Sitting through the hearings in the land acquisition appeals revealed the soft underbelly of the law. The rate of compensation was one of the bitter points of contention. The collector's estimate is invariably upset by the high courts, which hike the compensation. After a decade or so, the Supreme Court awards a still higher package, often as bequest to the legal representatives.

Assessment of the value is bedevilled by numerous vague norms. The size of the plot, its nearness to the developed areas, the rate at which the adjacent lands were sold to private parties, whether arid or fertile, the future value after development, purpose of the proposed project, the jump in price of land after the acquisition notification - these are only some of the criteria set by the Supreme Court to arrive at the correct amount of compensation. All these are lush ground for litigation, as could be seen in the past weeks in the Supreme Court.

As if these are not enough, the government bungles almost at every point. Notifications are allowed to lapse, the proposed project is confined to the limbo and a fresh notification is issued by a new government, starting a new round of litigation. Politics and vested interests interfere to prolong the harassment of the landowners. Environment impact assessment is a new factor. Often, that objection is bulldozed, as in the case of the new capital for Andhra Pradesh.

Then there are other irritants such as the lack of proper land records, an area neglected by state governments. There is a mind-boggling array of terms used to refer to units of land. In a recent judgment, Doongar Singh vs State of Punjab, the land acquired in 1992 for Guru Nanak thermal plant was measured in nehri, chahi and barani. Then there were gair mumkin lands. Somewhere during the decades of litigation, the measurements turned into kanals and marlas. From Bengal comes terms such as cottahs and chhitacks. The judges have to grapple with such curiosities from all parts of the country.

Those who observed land acquisition litigation would tend to think the new law would not be free from the same treatment at the hands of landowners, unless government action is fair and just - a tall order. The legal challenges could involve issues starting from vague definitions (see how 'public interest' and 'urgency' clauses spawned thousands of petitions), rate of compensation and arbitrariness of the authorities.

The constitutionality of the law itself is waiting to be challenged as soon as it comes into force. Interim orders and injunctions by civil courts could stall projects, unless the legal system itself is helped to deliver speedy justice. If the dysfunctional judicial machinery, long neglected by the government, stands in the way of development, it could only be called comeuppance.

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M J Antony: Spring-cleaning of dusty files

25th March, 2015

By MARUTIN ANSIUNG

KENINGAU: Community leaders in three villages have strongly objected to a land application in Kg Ulu Keningau, Jalan Kimanis from an individual aiming to secure 50 acres in the village.

Native chief representative, Jassin Lumau, Samalang village head, Aliman Nulantan, Keningau village chief, Joanis Doimpin and Ulu Keningau village chief, Petrus Langkihang all expressed their objection to the application on the basis that the area applied for had been settled by local villagers since the 1980s.

The three settlements are Kg Samalang, Kg Keningau and Kg Ulu Keningau.

Aliman said former Senator, Datuk Robert Evans and former Bingkor assemblyman of the Berjaya era, Datuk Ayub Aman were both aware of the existence of the settlements in the 1980s.

They had applied for the land to the Department of Land and Survey in 1976 and again in the 80s but were denied because the Sabah Parks did not permit land in that area to be applied for settlement.

Nevertheless, the villagers decided to settle on the land which they regard as being their ancestral ground. However, a week ago we were shocked when we saw bulldozers had come into the area. When we tried to stop the men from doing clearing work, they told us that the land had been applied for and approved by the Department of Land and Survey, said Aliman.

According to him, the applicant Thien Swee Jin @ Annie Thien under land application 2012131415. He questioned how the application by Thien could have been approved when theirs was rejected twice by the department.

The community leaders therefore urge the government to intervene and resolve the land dispute.

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Community leaders battling prospects of losing their villages

Minecraft KC #39;s 1.8 SURVIVAL W/Caden EP.3: TIMELAPSE OF LAND CLEARING
Hey guys McCity Kane here with a timelapse video. Really hope you guys enjoy and remember to like, comment and subscribe. CHECK OUT THIS AMZING SONG THAT I USED! This girl is amazing so, ...

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Minecraft KC's 1.8 SURVIVAL W/Caden EP.3: TIMELAPSE OF LAND CLEARING - Video

Land clearing stop motion part 1
via YouTube Capture.

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Land clearing stop motion part 1 - Video

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

China Resources Land (1109) says it has set aggressive sales targets even though the property sector will continue to focus on clearing inventory this year amid a supply glut.

The state-backed developer China's ninth-biggest is aiming for 78 billion yuan (HK$97.34 billion) in contract sales, 14 percent higher than last year's 70 billion yuan target, which it missed by 800 million yuan.

"Our sales target is not conservative," managing director and vice chairman Tang Yong said. "Supply is higher than standard level and the market is focusing on clearing inventory."

Despite the slump in the overall market, Shenzhen-based CR Land booked a 25 percent jump in core profit to HK$11.8 billion last year, helped by its focus on high-end projects in top-tier cities. Net profit was flat at HK$14.7 billion.

CR Land's shares rose 3.2 percent to HK$21 before the results were announced. REUTERS

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CR Land aims higher