Group calls for census of Orang Asli settlements in Pahang

 Peka says the 264 registered villages cited by the state government may not reflect the actual number in the state.

Peka president Rajesh Nagarajan said the absence of gazettement does not automatically mean Orang Asli have no customary rights over land. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

An environmental rights group has called on the Pahang government to carry out a comprehensive census and mapping exercise to identify all Orang Asli settlements in the state, including those not registered with the Orang Asli development department (Jakoa).

Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (Peka) said the exercise should involve the tok batin (headman), Orang Asli organisations, community representatives, and independent civil society groups.

Its president, Rajesh Nagarajan, said the figure of 264 registered Orang Asli villages cited by the Pahang government may not reflect the actual number in the state.

“The Pahang government itself has acknowledged communities outside (of the 264), including Kampung Selimbar, described as a kampung tambahan, and Kampung Sungai Cot, described as a kampung serpihan, both unregistered with Jakoa,” he said in a statement today.

“Accordingly, 264 cannot safely be treated as the complete number of Orang Asli settlements in Pahang.”

Peka’s call comes after Pahang ruler Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah said the term “customary land” should not be used arbitrarily.

Al-Sultan Abdullah said the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954 instead provides for land to be designated as an “Orang Asli Area” or “Orang Asli Reserve” through official gazettement.

Rajesh said the absence of gazettement does not automatically mean the Orang Asli have no customary rights over land.

Citing the Court of Appeal’s 2005 ruling in Kerajaan Negeri Selangor & Ors v Sagong bin Tasi & Ors, he said customary title must be determined based on the customs, practices, historical occupation, and use of the land by the particular community.

He said the ruling also recognised that Orang Asli could have customary title over land that had not been formally gazetted.

“The government cannot delay gazettement for years and then rely upon the absence of that very gazette to deny Orang Asli (their) customary rights,” he said.

He, however, welcomed the sultan’s separate call to expedite the surveying, demarcation and gazettement of Orang Asli areas.

He said the Pahang government has stated that of the 264 registered Orang Asli villages in the state, only 30 have completed gazettement and 16 have received land titles, leaving 218 without either.

“That is not an Orang Asli failure. It is an administrative failure which the Pahang state government and the federal government through Jakoa must explain,” he said. - FMT