Amri Jamil, the vice-president of the Association of Peninsular Malaysia Orang Asli (POASM), is used to receiving complaints about Orang Asli land being encroached upon or seized. But now he finds himself in a similar predicament.

The IT executive with the Prime Minister's Department has filed a complaint and is organising action against a company, which he claims bulldozed through 10 acres of land belonging to his village in Dengkil, Sepang (28km from Kuala Lumpur).

Amri and his fellow Temuan villagers claim that what used to be a lush jungle bush containing palm, durian and banana trees is now a barren strip of land after being cleared by the private company, which owns the adjacent 120 acres.

"As vice-president of POASM, I am used to receiving cases and complaints of land disputes.

"Now, I'm the one forwarding the complaints to POASM, because trees on land belonging to my own father has been bulldozed," he lamented when met recently.

About 26 villagers, including women and children, had gathered on the site of their land last Saturday to register their protest (pic).

Police report

Despite having lodged a police report on Feb 25 and notifying the Sepang district land office three days later, workers at the site situated a stone's throw away from Sungai Labu are said to operate at night mowing down the villagers' trees.

Head of the villagers' action-committee Jo Kumar expressed regret that while the Orang Asli culture demands that land rights of people be respected, the company acts with disdain.

"The villagers know their land, and are honest about their claims to ownership. They don't try to expand.

"After they lodged a police report, they also informed the Sepang land office. They (the land office) have told us that the company has been directed to stop felling trees on land that does not belong to them.

"But the company remains adamant. They don't do it when we are around. As soon as we come around, the machines are driven away. But we know they do it at night," he said.

Generations-old land

Confirming Jo's statements was 45-year old villager Diam Budi (pic). He claims that about 10 acres of the 35-acre land belonging to the villagers, including 45 palm and trees bearing various fruits, have been bulldozed by the company workers.

"They would have bulldozed more trees had I not begun keeping guard at night. They only do this work when we are not here to keep watch," he said.

Daim also said proof of the Orang Asli's ownership of the land lies in the fact that they had worked on the fruit and palm orchards for at least two generations.

"I was born here. These trees are the result of a second planting after the previous (generation) trees had already fallen," said Diam.

When contacted, an officer at the Dengkil police station confirmed receiving Amri's report but said he referred the matter to the district land office in order to determine the status of the land concerned.

The land officer at the Sepang district office, meanwhile, said he has yet to see the report as it has not reached his office.

Orang Asli communities have often cried foul over the encroachment of outsiders to land that they claim they have lived on for countless generations, a recurring problem on account of the lack of documentary evidence to prove their claims.

There have been instances, however, in Sabah, Sarawak and most recently in Perak, where Orang Asli communities have staked their claims by demarcating the boundaries of their ancestral land and presenting these to the state authorities.