One hundred and eighty-eight Orang Asli from the Seletar tribe have started a class action suit against the state of Johor and 12 other parties to stop encroachment on their native customary land.

They filed their originating summons at the Johor Baru High Court on Wednesday.

“Our native customary land that we live on since generations has and is being encroached upon by many irresponsible parties. Even after years of complaining to the state government, their oral promises to us remain unfulfilled in black and white,” lamented the group in a statement.

Among the parties named were the Iskandar Region Development Authority and the Johor Land and Minerals Office.

The Seletar tribe was represented by Salim Palon (Kg Sg Temun chief), Mat Inder (Kg Bakar Batu representative) and Edy Salim (Kg Sg Temun representative).

Legal counsel K Mohan from K Mohan & Co acted on their behalf.

The group said that the class action suit was done as a last resort since their repeated complaints to the authorities have gone not only unheeded, but they had seen more encroachment into their lands.

Despite being promised action to stop their land from being encroached upon, they accused the state of not only doing nothing to stop it but of transferring parcels of native land to third parties without the tribe’s knowledge.