National conference to address long-standing Orang Asli issues

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department P Waythamoorthy has announced that a national conference is being planned to be held next week to address the many long-standing issues plaguing the Orang Asli community in the country.

"Since assuming responsibility for the Orang Asli portfolio in October 2018, I have been in discussion with relevant stakeholders to address the various issues and problems faced by the Orang Asli community in the country.

"A National Conference on the Orang Asli is being planned for Jan 11, 2019, to discuss proactive suggestions to resolving many of the long-standing issues impacting the 200,000-strong Orang Asli community in Malaysia," Waythamoorthy said in a statement this morning.

The announcement by the minister, who helms the national unity portfolio, came after Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang made the call, on New Year's Eve, for such a conference so that a blueprint could be formulated for the future of the community.

This came after the veteran DAP leader said the indigenous community should no longer be neglected or forgotten after he saw first-hand the problems faced by the community in Cameron Highlands during a visit there.

There, substandard roads, termed "roti canai roads", led to Lim and former Teluk Intan MP M Manogaran being stranded at an Orang Asli settlement for a night.

Lim had said: "It is a symbol that after six decades, the majority of Orang Asli communities are still cut off from the outside world when they should have already been brought into the mainstream of national development."

In his statement this morning, Waythamoorthy said the National Orang Asli Conference would be organised by Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa) and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and would involve various stakeholders, including leaders from the Orang Asli community, civil society groups and academicians.

Waythamoorthy added: "The conference will be preceded by a roundtable discussion on Jan 6, to identify the main issues faced by the community, including land rights, infrastructure access, education, digital divide and youth empowerment.

"The findings and resolutions from the national conference will be brought to the Orang Asli community for their comments, after which a roadmap will be prepared for endorsement by the cabinet." - Mkini