Notes on Land Titles of Mukim Sungai Punggor, Rengit, Johor

Transcription

1 Notes on Land Titles of Mukim Sungai Punggor, Rengit, Johor Junji NAGATA* I. Introduction Since the mid-nineteenth century the resource frontier in peninsular Malaysia has been converted into agricultural land on a large scale and has attracted a great number of people of various socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. Such an expansion of human habitat in the peninsular has posed various important societal and academic problems associated with the social and economic development of the country. The author's fundamental concern is to elucidate the ecological and social relations embodied in this agricultural development of the resource frontier in peninsular Malaysia and the accompanying historical changes. The analytical focus will be placed upon: ( 1) the adaptive process of individuals, groups of individuals, and local society as a whole to the changing local ecosystem and wider political economy, and (2) the degree of association and integration among people whose socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds seem to vary. The description and analysis will be carried out by integrating the biophysical/human elements of the above issues into a conceptual framework of cultural-political ecology. As to the study atea, Mukim Sungai Punggor, Batu Pahat district, the State of Johor was selected (Fig. I ).t) It is situated in the lowland of western Johor along the * D partment of Geography, College of Arts and Sciences at University of Tokyo (Komaba), Tokyo.

2 Notes on Land Titles of Mukim Sungai Punggor, Rengit, Johor (Nagata) straits of Malacca and forms a part of the hinterland of Rengit town Qtekan Rengit). The area of this mukim is 88.06km2, the population 9,395 and the number of households 1,968 according to the l99l census. In the state of Johor agricultural land development was pioneered by Chinese planters in the latter half of the nineteenth century. They opened up gambier and pepper plantations along the rivers flowing into the Johor Strait, along some major rivers on the east coast, and along the Muar and Batu Pahat river systems on the west coast. Between Batu Pahat and Kukup, where Mukim Sg. (Sungai) Punggor is situated, the mangrovefronted, swamp-backed coast, to which no major river flows, inhibited penetration of Chinese planters into the interior (Jackson, 1968). In the early 1890's the Chinese population of Johor is estimated to have reached about 210,000 (Jackson, 1968),2) whereas the Malay population was insignificant until the end of the nineteenth century. It was only 110,000 in the 1911 census, but from the beginning of this century it was increased rapidly by Javanese and other Indonesian immigrants to the west coast (Gullick, 1987). According to the 1980 census, 87% of the population of Mukim Sg. Punggor is Malay and 13% Chinese, while about 90% of the Malays in this area are said to be of Javanese origin and the remaining lo% are Melayu, Bugis, Banjar. Most of the Chinese in the area are said to be of Hokkien origin whose ancestors arrived almost at the same time as the Javanese. Official land records, especially land titles, provide us much useful firsthand data about the changing socioeconomy of the study area. In addition they give us valuable information about the institutional basis of the land development and land management there. This paper summarizes the kind of titles and other related documents available in Mukim Sg. Punggor, and discusses their nature and problems as materials for study, and then presents some basic data derived from these documents.3) II. Outline of the land titles in Peninsular Malaysia In the land system in Peninsular Malaysia, commonly known as the Torrens system or the registration of title system, initially all land belongs to the State. Alienation, which is completed by registration of title, allows the right over the land to pass from the State to the person or body named in the title, subject to certain conditions.a) Under the National Land Code (NLC) which was made effective on January 1, 1966 several types of title can be distinguished depending on whether final or qualified, whether in perpetuity or for a term of years, and whether they are registered in the Registry of the state (one in each State - mostly at the State capital) or at the Land Office of the district (one such office in each district). Before a final title is registered, the land must be surveyed and the boundary marks must be emplaced on it. Pending survey, a qualified title can be prepared based on the provisional survey, and thus two types of title can be seen. One is final and the other is qualified. A qualified title (QT) confers the same right as the final title except that the land under QT cannot be subdivided, partitioned, or amalgamated. The aim of QT basically resides in enabling the approved applicant (in case of alienation) or the proprietor of the individual portions of land (in case of subdivision, partition, and amalgamation) to transfer, charge, or lease in respect of the land before the final survey is completed. Final title and QT can be either Registry or Land Office titles. Thus four types of title can be distinguished, that is, Final Registry title, Final Land Office title, QT corresponding to Registry title (QT(R)) (Hakmilik Sementara (Daftar)), and QT corresponding to Land Office title (QT (M)) (Hakmilik Sementara (Mukim)). Normally Registry title is given in case of township area or any lot of country land5) exceeding ten acres in area, whereas Land Office title is given to any lot of country land not exceeding ten acres in area. However, there are some exceptions to this rule because it is finally decided by the State Authority which title is more suitable to any given lot. Actually in case of Mukim Sg. Punggor there exist lots which are held under Registry title not exceeding ten acres, and on the other hand, there exist lots under Land Office title that exceed ten acres.6) NLC provides two forms of Final Registry title. One is Grant (Geran ) and the other is State Lease (Pajakan Negeri). Grant is for land alienated in perpetuity and State Lease is for land alienated for a period of years. QT(R) is registered for land to be held finally under Grant or State Lease. In the same way NLC provides two forms of Final Land Office title, that is, Mukim Grant (MG) (Geran Mukim) and Mukim Lease (ML) (Pajakan Mukim). MG is for land alienated in perpetuity and ML is for land alienated for a

3 Notes on Land Titles of Mukim Sungai Punggor, Rengit, Johor (Nagata) period of years. As in the case of Registry title, QT(M) is registered for land to be held finally under MG or ML. For these titles two documents are prepared. One is known as the register document of title (RDT) which is compiled in registers in the Registry of the State or Land Office. The other is a copy of RDT, and is known as the issue of document of title (IDT). This title should be kept by the proprietor. At the Registry of the State or Land Office, besides registers of Grant, State Lease, QT(R), MG, ML, and QT(M) under the NLC, there exist some registers which were prepared under the previous land laws which were introduced under British colonial influence. In the case of Johor these are registers of Grant, State Lease, and CT (Certificate of Titles) in the Registry of the State and Mukim Registers in the Land Office. They were prepared under the previous land law entitled the Land Enactment The titles compiled in Mukim Registers are commonly known as EMR (Extract from the Mukim Register). The titles in these registers under the previous land laws are still in force and can be used for the purposes of NLC until they ate continued in the new form of titles provided by NLC. III. Alienated Land and its Titles in Mukim Sg. Punggor This section summarizes under what kind of titles, what amount of land has been alienated in Mukim Sg. Punggor year by year. In Mukim Sg. Punggor all the land is classified as country land, and there is no area declared to be town or village land by the state. In addition the land of this mukim has been solely developed by smallholders, not by plantation or mining companies, so that most of the alienated land in Mukim Sg. Punggor has come to be held under Land Office titles. The Land Office titles in respect of this mukim are kept in the Sub-district and Land Offices in Rengit (Pejabat Tanah dan Daerah Kecil, Rengit). The Registry titles in respect of this mukim are kept in Lands and Mines Office (Peiabat Tanah dan Galian) at Johor Bahru. Table 1-5 show the number of lots and the aqeage of the land for which titles are registered in Mukim Sg. Punggor year by year. There should be only one lot in each title. As to the form of titles, EMR and QT(M) occupy the greater part. The registration of EMR began in 1929 and ended in 1980 (Table 1). During this period 15,ML l acres (3,890 lots) were registered, 82% of which had been registered before the end of the Second World War, and up to 96% before Independence in The registration of EMR after 1966 under NLC is due to some delays in procedures and is exceptional. The registration of QT(M) began in 1966 under NLC and continues until now (Table 2). Up to ,192.6 acres (1,616lots) had been registered. The registration of MG also began in 1966 under NLC, but the number is still small (Table 3). until 1993 acres ( 148 lots) had been registered. Although the registration of Grants and QT(D) are exceptional in this mukim, between 1931 and lg3g, and in 1980, Grants were registered for acres (26 lots) (Table 4), and between 1976 and 1988, QT(D) for acres (11lots) (Table 5). The difference in the acreage between the time of registration and of 1993 is mainly caused by State land acquisition for the purpose of public use, for example, drainage, road, school, mosque, graveyard, and so on. The crucial point here is that the figures quoted above are not equivalent to the number of lots and the net acreage of the alienated land in Mukim Sg. Punggor. There are several reasons for this. First, if the land is alienated under QT, and then on completion of survey final title is registered in respect of the land, the result is that the final title is given to the already alienated land. The alienation of land can only be made if the land is State land. This case of giving of final title in continuation of QT doesn't mean alienation. Second, in case of sub-division, partition, and amalgamation of land, and in cases where there is no space in the documents of titles or they are lost or damaged, new title(s) can be registered in respect of the land in continuation of former title(s). Third, there are some cases where the already alienated land is surrendered or acquired as State land for some reason, and then re-alienated. Finally, there is the problem of the Japanese occupation period from 1942 to In Mukim Sg. Punggor during this period EMR was registered for 170 lots (794.6 acre), but except for a few cases in continuation of former titles, EMR for 164 lots (766.3 acre) was canceled after the Second World war in accordance with the Titles to Land (occupation Period) Ordinance Most of those lands were re-alienated after Taking these things into account, if we want to know under what kind of titles, what amount of land has been alienated except for the case of re-alienation in Mukim Sg. Punggor, we have to extract the initial registration of title to a given

4 Notes on Land Titles of Mukim Sungai Punggor, Rengit, Johor (Nagata) Table 1. Registration of EMR in Mukim sg. punggor Registration Registration (initial alienation) Acreage Acreage Acreage Acreage

5 Notes on Land Titles of Mukim Sungai Punggor, Rengit, Johor (Nagata) Table 2. Registration of QT(M) in Mukim Sg. Punggor Registration Registration (initial alienation) Acreage Acreage Acreage Acreage piece of land. The results are also shown in Table l-5. If the land was alienated under QT, and then final title was given, the registration of final title is adopted here. From 1929 to 1993 the alienated land in Mukim Sg. Punggor amounted to 19,668.8 acres (79.59 km2). The area of Mukim Sg. Punggor is krn2, so that 90% of the land in this mukim has already been alienated. Out of 19,668.8 acres of alienated land in Mukim Sg. Punggor, 65 % was alienated before the end of the Second World War, and 73% was alienated before independence in During the colonial period, the land was mainly alienated under EMR and during the post-independence period it was mainly alienated under QT(M). The land which was initially alienated under EMR which includes one case where QT(M) was registered ahead accounts for 73% (14,374.2 acres) of the total amount. The spread of alienated land under EMR approximately corresponds to the spread of the land which was already surveyed, and is shown on the map in Fig. 2. Land which was initially alienated under MG, or land initially alienated under QT(M) and then registered under MG makes up only 0.4% (79.2 acres) of the total area. The land which was initially alienated under QT(M) excluding the land later registered under EMR or MG accounts for 24% (4,803.2 acres). Although 9% of it (n9.7 acres) is situated on land already surveyed, most of it occupies the northeast part of Mukim Sg. Punggor where the final survey has not yet been completed. This area is the northwest fringe of a vast peatland which stretches across the borders between Batu Pahat, Pontian, and Kluang districts, and therefore, the development of the area was held up until the post-war period. One more area where the alienated land under QT(M) is concentrated is the coastal fringe outside the main bund (Fig. 2). Up to 1985, all of the QT(M) in

6 Notes on Land Titles of Mukirn Sungai Punggor, Rengit, Johor (Nagata) Registration Regis. (i.a.) Acreage Acreage Acreage Acreage (Regis. (i.a.) : Registration (initial alienation)). Table 4. Regishation of Grant in Mukim Sg. Punggor Registration Regis. (i.a.) Acreage Acreage Acreage Acreage (Regis. (i.a.) : Registration (initial alienation)).

7 Registration Regis. (i.a.) Acreage Acreage (Regis. (i.a.) : Registration (initial alienation)). Fig. 2. The area surveyed and not yet surveyed in Mukim Sg. Punggor

8 Notes on Land Titles of Mukim Sungai Punggor, Rengit, Johor (Nagata) Table 6. Land alienation in Mukim Sg. Punggor MG QT(M) Geran QT(D) Total l92yl94l Prewar colonial period Japanese occupation period 1946_1956 Postwar colonial period Post-independence period (acre) Mukim Sg. Punggor were registered for the land finally to be held under MG. However, starting with 2 lots (10.7 acres) in 1986, from 1987 newly alienated land outside the surveyed area, QT(M) which should be continued by ML for a term of 99 years, was basically registered. The land initially registered under QT(M), and in future to be held under ML, accounts for 32% (1,532.1 acres) of the initially alienated land under QT(M). The lands which were initially alienated under Grant or QT(D) account for only 1.9% (364.8 acres) and 0.2% (47.5 acres) respectively and these lands can be found sporadically among the alienated lands under EMR. fv. Some Records Preceding Land Titles Under the previous land law there existed a number of records concerning the approval of application preceding land titles. In the case of Johor, Dafter Permohunan Tanah Yang-Telah Dibenarkan (DP), Surat Semantara (SS), and Register of Approved Occupants (AO) are known. DP is a register of approved application. As for Mukim Sg. Punggor, there remain the books from no. 135 of to no. 141 of 1933, and from no. 143 of 1933 to no. 145 of in the Sub-district and Land Office in Rengit. The registration of DP ended in 1937, and book no. 145 is the final one. Although the registrations of DP before 1924 are thought to be few, unfortunately the books before 1935 are lost. Book no. 142, and part of book no. l4l are also lost. In Table 7 the numbers of registration of DP of each year in Mukim Sg. Punggor during the period from 1925 to 1937 are shown. The registration concentrates on particular years, especially 1925, 1930, and In the document of DP the following particulars are contained: 1. serial number, 2. date, 3. former title, 4. nam, 5. area applied for, 6. local- Table 7. Regishation of DP in Mukim Sg. Punggor (u.k. : unknown). ity,7. date of first settlement, 8. area ascertained, 9. nature and age of cultivation at date of settlement, 10. terms and date of approval (premium, rent, special conditions, and so on), 1 1. SS number and date, 12. R/D number and date, 13. plan number of settlement tracing, 14. lot number, 15. date of second settlement, 16. R/E (Requisition for Extract) number and date, 17. receipt of extract, 18. MR (Mukim Register) or AO number, 19. issue of extract, and 20. remarks. As far as Mukim Sg. Punggor is concerned, in not a few cases 3,7,8, 12, 15, 16, 17 remained blank. In the column of "remarks" the boundaries are described. One important point here is that any forms of dealings in respect of the land are not recorded on the DP. A person named in DP is considered to be only an applicant. Out of the land initially alienated under EMR, 92% (13,193.3 acres) has the record of approved

9 Notes on Land Titles of Mukim Sungai PungBor, Rengit, Johor (Nagata) Table 8. Application for EMR in Mukim Sg. Punggor Other Total Acreage Acreage % application in DP (Table 8). Although the registration of EMR in Mukim Sg. Punggor began in 1929, the registration of DP for EMR already started in I 922 and it continued until If we refer to some other documents such as CLR (Collector of Land Revenue) in the case of land which has no record in DP, we can summanze that of the land initially alienated under EMR, 38% was applied for in the 1920's, 55% in the 1930's, and before the end of the Second World War 95% had been applied for (Table 8). SS (Surat Semantara) literally means "temporary letter". It provides the permit of occupation and allows the use of the land until final title is registered. It cannot be interpreted as an evidence of title (Das, 1963) and it bears the following endorsement in Malay: "This document cannot be transferred or sold without the permission of the head of the Land Office." In fact, however, transfers and charges are registered in SS. This is an important point which distinguishes SS from DP. In the document of SS the following partic- are included: name, number of DP, bound- ulars aries, price of the land, rent, and cost of survey. In the line of "boundaries" the names of occupants of adjoining lands are normally recorded. As to Mukim Sg.Punggor, there remain the complete set of books from no. I of to no. 12 of 1928 in Sub-district and Land Office in Rengit. The numbers of registrations of each year are shown in Table 9. The registration of SS began in 1922 and ended in 1928, and during this period the number amounted to t,t2l. Of the land initially alienated under EMR in Mukim Sg. Punggor 3l% (4,488.7 acres) has SS (Table l0). Most of this land was alienated under EMR from 1929 to Register of AO (Approved Occupants) of Mukim Sg. Punggor is kept in the Sub-district and Land Office in Rengit being compiled into 4 Table 9. Registration of SS in Mukim Sg. Punggor (u.k.:unknown).

10 None Remarks AO>HS(M), 4.2 acre (acre)

11 Notes on Land Titles of Mukim Sungai Punggor, Rengit, Johor (Nagata) books, but unfortunately the latter half of the first registered (Table 1 1 ). However, if the case of book is seriously damaged. In Mukim Sg. Punggor the registration of AO began in 1932 and number is reduced to 854, and of these 23% (199 replacement of the preceding AO is excluded, the ended in 1966, and during this period 1,O32 arc lots) were registered during the prewar British colonial period, T% (63 lots) during the Japanese occupation period, 60% postwar British colonial Table 11. Regishation of AO in Mukim period, and 9% (76 lot) during the postindependence period. Just as for the case of Sg. Punggor Registration Regis. (initial) EMR, AO registered during the Japanese occupation period were also canceled after the Second World War in accordance with the Titles to Land (Occupation Period) Ordinance The document of AO contains such particulars as follows: serial number, lot number, full name of occupant, locality and nature of cultivation, boundaries, former authority (if any), area, terms ap- proved (premium and rent per acre, special conditions (if any), payments made (demarcation fees, premium, total, receipt number and date), date of settlement, entry in Mukim Register, and date of registration. Register of AO in Johor corresponds to Register of AA (Approved Applications) in the former Federated Malay States. Those whose names have been recorded in the register of AA have the right to registration of titles, but before getting final titles they cannot transfer, charge, lease or do other forms of dealings in respect of the land. They are not proprietors but only approved applicants (Federal Lands Subtotal and Mines Department, 1980). However, the case of Mukim Sg. Punggor is a little bit confusing. In AO which was registered before the end of the Second World War not a few transfers were recorded. In AO which was registered after the Second World War transfers were not recorded any more, but transfers of the right to registration of titles actually happened by way of assignment of approval from a former approved occupant to a new approved occupant. In this case the former AO was canceled and replaced by the new AO. Of the land initially alienated under EMR in Mukim Sg. Punggor ll% (1,530.6 acre), which was alienated after 1938, had a previous AO (Table 10), while of the land initially alienated under QT(M) 7% (315.5 acres) had a previous AO. V. Concluding Remarks In Mukim Sg. Punggor 19,668.8 acres (79.6 k-t) of land was alienated up to It represents 90% of the total area. The remaining lo% is State land but most of it has already been developed by now. We can no longer see undevel- (u.k.:unknown)

12 Notes on Land Titles of Mukim Sungai Punggor, Rengit, Johor (Nagata) oped jungle in this mukim. The registration of land titles was began in 1929, reached 6l% during the prewar colonial period, 4% during the Japanese occupation period, 8% during the postwar colonial period and during the post-independence period 27% was alienated by the state. Before the enforcement of NLC in 1966, EMR, the final land office title under the previous land law, was at the center of land titles which were given in this mukim. of course it should be noted that there is a time lag between the approval of application and the registration of land titles. The record of approved application dates back to lg22 in this mukim, and 35% of EMR was applied for in 1920s, ffi% in 1930s. After 1966 QT(M) has taken the place of EMR and the registration of final titles such as MG or ML is making slow progress. The Registry titles such as Grant or QT(D) are exceptional, and it proves that most of the land in this mukim was developed by smallholders. The facts about land alienation in Mukim Sg. Punggor which were derived from the land titles and other related documents in this paper have to be interpreted in relation to changing government policies and the wider political economy as well as ecology and society at the local level. The government intervention in land development and land management in this area should not be made light of. From this viewpoint the qualitative and quantitative analyses of restrictions and conditions which were imposed on titles become significant. In Mukim Sg. Punggor coconut and oil palm are the main crops and on most of the titles the cultivation of rubber is prohibited. It is needless to say that land titles and other related documents provide us valuable dataon the changing socioeconomy of the study area. In this respect, the records of land transactions such as transfers, transmissions, and charges are worthy of note. Mukim Sg. Punggor is basically a freehold area where land transactions can be done freely although some separate lots are declared to be Malay Reservation. Land transactions between the different ethnic groups therefore presents an important question in this area, and the change in landholding from generation to generation also raises a significant problem, although these two questions cannot be separated. Finally it should be noted that actual land use and actual land holders tend to be different from the descriptions on titles. To make an investigation of this fact also assumes considerable importance in understanding the political-cultural ecology of the study atea. Notes 1. From the viewpoint of land administration the territory of the State (wilayah Negeri) may be divided into districts (daerah), and districts may be divided into sub-districts (daerah kecil), and district or sub-district may be divided into mukims. The boundary of district, sub-district, and mukim may be declared by the State Authority by notification in the Gazette. 2. Jackson notes that "the figure of 210,000 Chinese in Johor in the early 1890's is probably an over-estimate for there were only 63,410 at the time of the 1911 Census. It is possible, however, that there was a decline in the Chinese population of Johor after the turn of the century for another source maintains that there were 150,000 Chinese in the state in the early 1890's.' 3. The research for this paper was carried out from September 1993 to February lg94 under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture, Japan (Grant-in-Aid for International Scientific Research: Cultural Ecologt of a Multiethnic Nation-A Case Study of Malaysia) and Fukutake Science and Culture Foundation (Cultural Ecology of Agricultural Development in Johor, Malaysia). 4. The description of this section is mainly based on National Land Code and Federal Lands and Mines Department (1980). 5. According to the National Land Code the land above the shore-line shall be classified into three categories, that is, town land (tanah bandar), village land (tanah pekan), and national land (tanah negert). Town land and village land (township area) may be declared by the State Authority by notification in the Gazette. 6. Before NLC came into effect, under the Johor Land Enactment 1910, EMR (Extract from the Mukim Register) could be issued for areas not exceeding 100 acres being ditrerent from the Federated Malay States Land Code In practice, however, they were seldom required or issued for areas of over l0 acres (Nugent, 1930). References Das, S. K The Torrens System in Malaya.

13 Notes on Land Titles of Mukim Sungai Punggor, Rengrt, Johor (Nagata) Singapore: Malayan Law Journal Ltd. Chinese and European Agricultural Enterprise Federal Lands and Mines Department in Malaya Kuala Lumpur: Uni- Manual for Land Administration. Kuala versity of Malaya Press' Lumpur: Federal Lands and Mines Depart- Nugent, C. E Surveys for Title in Johor. ment. Gullick, J. M Malay Society in the Late In Sarueys for Title in the Federated Malay StateswithNotesontheRevenueSumeysofthe Nineteenth Century. Singapore: Oxford Uni- Unfederated Malay States, edited by W. F. N- versity Press. Bridges. Kuala Lumpur: Federated Malay Jackson, J. C Planten and Speculatorc. States. 87