4 sisters lose legal battle over damage to ancestral land in Pedas

PUTRAJAYA: Four sisters have lost a long-running legal battle against the government over alleged trespass and drainage works that they claimed damaged their ancestral land in Pedas, Negeri Sembilan.

The Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s dismissal of their suit, ruling that they failed to prove who carried out the excavation and drainage works that allegedly diverted water to their one-acre property.

The sisters, Siti Mariam Nor, Jamariah, Norizan and Norehan, were ordered to pay RM30,000 in costs.

Delivering the court’s grounds, Justice Leonard David Shim said the sisters failed to establish the identity of the alleged trespasser responsible for the works.

The findings of the sessions court and the High Court disclosed no error warranting intervention, said Shim.

The evidence showed that the crossing culvert was built with the siblings’ knowledge and consent after they complained that water from the nearby National Youth Higher Skills Institute flowed into their land.

The government then constructed a drainage system to prevent water from entering the property.

The sisters claimed that the problem persisted and sued in 2020, seeking about RM40,000 in damages for a damaged fence, workers’ quarters, pandan coconut seedlings and a tarred road, as well as RM130,000 in damages and compensation for trespass.

They alleged the government unlawfully excavated their land and built a drainage channel and crossing culvert without their consent, diverting water onto the property and causing erosion and extensive damage.

Justice Firuz Jaffril chaired the three-man bench with Justice Ismail Brahim also on the bench.

The defendants were the director of the institute and the government. Asmawi Ismail represented the siblings, while senior federal counsel Amalina Zainal Mokhtar and federal counsel Shafiq Sazalli represented the government.