A group of Orang Asli villagers, who are facing the threat of eviction from their ancestral land, are crying foul over the
 
 <a href="http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/2003120800113273.php">
 three-week respite
 </a>
 
 announced by the Perak Agricultural Development Corporation (PSADC).


 <img align="left" alt="" border="0" hspace="5" src="https://i.malaysiakini.com/oib/storyimages/kampung_chang_orang_asli_04_101203.jpg" style="WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 161px"/>
 Kampung Chang Sungai Gepai villager Rizuan Tempek claimed that the respite was imposed unilaterally and that they never agreed to it.


 "We never agreed to such a deadline. As this is such an important issue, we had asked for an indefinite period of time to discuss the issue and get feedback from everybody involved," he said when contacted yesterday.


 "To them (the state and commercial agencies), we want to stop them merely from taking over or damaging our water supply. Other than that, they are not addressing the (bigger) issue: It's our own land." he added.


 Rizuan reiterated the villagers' claim that the land had been occupied by '
 
 <a href="http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/2003120400113226.php">
 countless generations
 </a>
 
 ' of the Semai community and that they have long derived their basic sustenance and cash income from the land's forest resources.


 <img align="right" alt="" border="0" hspace="5" src="https://i.malaysiakini.com/oib/storyimages/kampung_chang_orang_asli_02_101203.jpg"/>
 "The issue at root is whether the state agency has a right to have leased the land to anybody without consulting us," he said.


 According to documents obtained by
 
 malaysiakini
 
 , PSADC had on Aug 30 entered into an arrangement with plantation company Kampung Poh Plantations Sdn Bhd, whereby the latter would pay RM70,820 yearly for three years for the land's development.


 
 
 Eviction clause
 
 


 The company, under the chairmanship of former minister Megat Junid Megat Ayub, would then pay a yearly fee of RM708,200 for a period of 60 years.


 One clause in the agreement signed by Megat Junid and (PSADC) General Manager Mohd Niza Mohd Ghazali provides for the "eviction of any squatters or trespassers on the said land" at costs borne by the company itself.


 <img align="right" alt="" border="0" hspace="5" src="https://i.malaysiakini.com/oib/storyimages/kampung_chang_orang_asli_03_101203.jpg"/>
 Rizuan said the villagers had the option of seeking a court declaration recognising the Orang Asli of Kampung Chang Sungai Gepai as the rightful settlers of the land, but lawyers have told them that it would not be an easy task.


 On the issue of boundary-demarcation, Centre for Orang Asli Concerns executive director Dr Colin Nicholas said the issue was a moot point, as the Orang Asli have traditionally known the boundaries of their land as clearly marked by such natural landmarks as rivers and hills.


 The onus is not merely on the villagers to prove that they have lived on the land and have claims to it, but on state government agencies as well, he added.


 "The state has to prove how they got hold of the land. Did they buy it? Did they get it from the British? It's not just the Orang Asli that have to prove that they've lived on the land."


 
 


 
 State government's compensation
 






 The Star

today quoted Mentri Besar Mohd Tajol Rosli Ghazali as saying that the state government has offered to pay compensation for crops destroyed during land clearing near the water catchment area.

 <img align="left" alt="" border="0" hspace="5" src="https://i.malaysiakini.com/oib/mugshot/tajol_rosli_ghazali.jpg"/>
 He said that a total of 140 ha had been leased to Syarikat Kg Poh for the planting of fruits and vegetables and that all land clearing work at the 80ha site involving the Orang Asli had been put on hold until the Orang Asli decide on the offer.


 Tajol Rosli said the state government was willing to help the community although the land was not an Orang Asli reserve.


 "We have held discussions with representatives of the Orang Asli village and it was agreed that the Perak Agriculture Development Corporation will leave out the water catchment area and re-align the area for development," he was quoted as saying by the report.

A group of Orang Asli villagers claim that the three-week respite was imposed unilaterally and that they never agreed to it.


Plantation project: Villagers cry foul over unilateral respite

~RM12

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