Parliament panel to grill agencies, delayed health data stalks Orang Asli

Summary

• The Parliamentary Select Committee on Women, Children and Community Development is seeking answers from federal agencies on why the January health screening results for the Orang Asli community in Kelantan have not been released.

• Yeo Bee Yin says the inquiry will examine what was tested, where, when, and why the results remain withheld from the indigenous community, amid fears of heavy-metal poisoning.

• She expresses confidence that a transparent report could be tabled in Parliament by October.

The Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on Women, Children and Community Development will interrogate federal agencies over the seven-month delay in releasing health findings for the Temiar of Kampung Kelaik, Gua Musang, Kelantan.

After Malaysiakini reported last December that lab tests found extreme chromium levels in a mine tailings pond and a villager’s blood showed severe exposure risk, health officials screened about 60 villagers in January, collecting hair, nail, and blood samples that residents have anxiously awaited results for ever since.

PSC chair Yeo Bee Yin said the inquiry will seek answers from the Environment Department (DOE), Health Ministry, and Orang Asli Development Agency (Jakoa) on what was tested, where, when, and why the results remain withheld from the public.

“The committee has authority to summon the federal agencies but can only invite, not compel, state agencies to explain the land matter,” said Yeo, who met the community yesterday.

The DOE also collected river water samples as part of its investigation into iron ore mining effluent management upstream from where 200 Temiar villagers live, while Jakoa assisted in probes by both ministries.

“The committee has authority to summon government agencies but is limited to inviting state agencies that cannot be compelled to explain the land matter,” she told Malaysiakini.

The Health Ministry told the media last December that the water used by the villagers met safety standards, then conceded the samples were not taken from the discoloured rivers that villagers revert to when the tandak (mini reservoir) clogs.

Fears of river still contaminated

This issue persists, and hearing that villagers who still bathe and wash in the river continue to suffer rashes, Yeo said river water sampling could fall within the committee’s investigative scope, and may be necessary despite the halt of iron ore mining operations.

Last year, blood tests conducted by Malaysiakini on Azlan Ahak, a 19-year-old villager, detected exceptionally high levels of chromium, a known carcinogen.

Chemical health assessor Vivien How estimated Azlan’s lifetime carcinogenic risk to be an astonishing 64,000 times higher than normal.

How also warned that approximately six percent of the villagers could face similar risks, necessitating immediate investigation.

Chromium’s prolonged presence in the body (weeks to months) indicates recent exposure, underscoring the ongoing nature of the threat.

Villagers have reported skin lesions and respiratory difficulties after contact with the polluted rivers.

Potential long-term health impacts from chromium exposure include kidney, liver, and respiratory issues, asthma, nasal ulcers, and even lung cancer.

Following this exposé, the then Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad had issued stop-work orders to the two iron ore mines on Bukit Tambun in mid-December 2024, pending investigations into the river contamination.

However, one operator, Redstar Capital Sdn Bhd, claims a “closed circuit” and “zero discharge” system, recycling all effluent and sending monthly water samples to authorities.

DOE found that the second company, Aqua Orion Sdn Bhd, had been operating without environmental impact assessment approval and asked the Kelantan Land and Mines Office to withhold licence renewal.

Yeo said: “This is a straightforward matter and we can aim to table our report in Parliament by October”.

“The report will be transparent and entered into the parliament Hansard for reference,” she told Malaysiakini.

READ MORE: Heavy metals found in Kelantan Orang Asli blood, community fear poisoned by mining

Yeo and Nik were among five parliamentarians who met 12 Temiar from Kampung Kelaik, along with representatives of an NGO collective supporting the community, which is also pursuing an ancestral land rights claim in the Kota Bharu High Court.

Also present were Kota Melaka MP Khoo Poay Tiong, who organised the meeting, Mas Gading MP Mordi Bimol, who is an Orang Asal from Sarawak and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok.

Kelantan state to be questioned

“We will also raise the matter of the state government agency issuing licences to contractors to operate on Orang Asli customary land,” said Khoo.

Khoo had, in the February Parliament sitting, accused the state government of neglecting Orang Asli welfare by granting iron ore mining licences without legal approval.

Kampung Kelaik Action Committee leader Ahak Uda said he was feeling optimistic about hearing the results from PAC.

“If there is no land, there are no Orang Asli,” he told the government, issuing a clarion call for all Indigenous peoples in Kelantan to be recognised as protectors of the environment.

The group had also visited Suhakam the same day to share their demands with the human rights commission that had paused its investigation into the encroachment of Orang Asli customary land, pending the court process.

The group also met with Suhakam that day to present their demands to government agencies. The human rights commission had paused its investigation into the encroachment of Kampung Kelaik’s customary land pending court proceedings.

Orang Asli activist Eliana Tan said their urgent demands were for the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry to conduct an independent and comprehensive investigation into environmental pollution in Kampung Kelaik, and for the Health Ministry to carry out a scientific and transparent investigation into the reported poisoning cases.

Tan said this would include full health screenings for residents, with all findings shared openly with the community and government.

She added that all mining activities and permits in the Kampung Kelaik customary land should be halted immediately until a full assessment and the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) process is completed.

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