A group of Orang Asli today met with parliamentarians at Parliament to bring attention to the community’s displeasure over the Orang Asli Land Ownership and Development Policy which was allegedly passed in 2009 without proper consultation.

“Most desperately, the customary land of the Orang Asli on which we have lived even before Malaysia existed is now threatened.

NONE “The land policy treats the Orang Asli as if they are illegal migrants with no right to the land in Malaysia,” Jaringan Kampung Orang Asli coordinator Tijak Yok Chopil ( right ) said today.

Speaking to reporters after a discussion with the MPs, she said that the policy also treats the Orang Asli like beggars even though they are citizens.

She added that at two or six acres per household, as stipulated by the policy, the land provided is not enough to house and feed the Orang Asli families.

“(The size) is not logical as it is purportedly to transform the community to be rich. But how can this be with a plot of land the size of two to six acres for a home and farm?” she asked.

Worse still, she said, the plot of land must also be developed by others.

“The farm is not operated by the Orang Asli but by middlemen and the development of the land is considered a debt to be borne by the Orang Asli,” she said.

Among the parliamentarians who attended the discussion were PKR’s Batu MP Tian Chua, PKR’s Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh, PKR’s Gopeng MP Dr Lee Boon Chye and BN’s Alor Gajah MP Fong Chan Onn.