MB's reply to Orang Asli trespass claims 'high-handed', 'illogical' - NGO

Summary

• Environmental NGO Peka slams Perak Menteri Besar Saarani Mohamad over his response to an ongoing encroachment issue between an Orang Asli community and a quarry company.

• Peka president Rajesh Nagarajan also urges Jakoa to investigate how the indigenous ancestral land came under the ownership of Siong Emas Sdn Bhd.

Environmental NGO Peka slammed Perak Menteri Besar Saarani Mohamad over the latter's response to the ongoing encroachment issue between an Orang Asli community and a quarry company.

Calling the politician's comments “high-handed” and “illogical”, Peka president Rajesh Nagarajan urged the Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa) to investigate how indigenous ancestral land came under the ownership of quarry company Siong Emas Sdn Bhd.

"The government is under a duty as provided for by the Federal Constitution to positively discriminate in favour of the Orang Asli when dealing with any issue affecting the Orang Asli," he said in a statement yesterday.

He said Peka will not hesitate to take any legal action to defend the rights of Orang Asli.

When asked yesterday if he had any intentions to visit the Orang Asli residents in Kampung Chang Lama, Saraani asserted that state departments had denied any sort of encroachment by the private company.

“If it is true that (encroachment on Orang Asli land) did happen, I would have to go to the area, but since (the claims) are not true, why would I have to go down?" he questioned.

Sacred site

On April 11, Kampung Chang Lama tok batin (head) Dahil Yok Chopil said villagers found signboards along the Jegog area with the name of the company and a warning that trespassers will be prosecuted.

He called this a violation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as the community's free, prior, and informed consent had not been obtained.

He explained that the Jejog area is a sacred site to the community as it is where prayer ceremonies and rotational crop farming activities are held. It is also an ancestral burial ground.

In response, Siong Emas managing director Tan Ee Tiam countered that it was the Orang Asli who had “encroached” on the land, as the company holds the land title for a 2.832ha plot called Lot 16225 in Batang Padang.

Village representative Sabran Aalap decried the remarks as insulting and historically inaccurate, saying his people have inhabited the region since time immemorial, predating World War II, the emergence of Bidor and Malaysia itself.

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