Orang Asli activists from Pos Lanai, Pahang have appealed to attorney-general Tommy Thomas to absolve them from paying the legal costs of RM12,000 as they don't have the money.
They were ordered by the Temerloh High Court to pay the amount for withdrawing their suit against Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), the Department of Orang Asli Development (Jakoa), the Pahang state government and the federal government in relation to the Telom Dam project.
Today, activists Jeffry Hassan and Yunus Seben urged Thomas to cancel the costs as they could not afford it and contended that their struggle against the dam was genuine despite withdrawing the case.
“We were slapped with RM12,000 of costs in total [...] We ask that the costs be cancelled because we Orang Asli do not have the money to pay it.
“We opposed the (dam) project not to reap profit but we wanted to ensure our source of living.
“[...] If the dam project is built, we will have nothing - no source of living, no land and our ancestral burial grounds will be gone,” Jeffry told the media before submitting their request in a letter to public relations officer Wasri Ahmad Sujani from the Attorney-General's Chambers in Putrajaya today.
In the letter sighted by Malaysiakini, the activists explained that they had decided to withdraw the suit because they disagreed with the court’s decision to transfer the case from the High Court in Kuala Lumpur to Temerloh.
Back in May 2015, the Orang Asli filed an injunction to prevent TNB from starting work on the dam. They also challenged the acquisition of the land for the dam project, arguing that it was unlawful.
They were granted an injunction by the Kuala Lumpur High Court four months later.
In 2016, TNB managed to obtain another injunction from the Temerloh High Court, this time to bar the Orang Asli from entering the land in question.
Harapan must decide on dam
Accompanying the activists today was PSM secretary-general A Sivarajan, who urged the Pakatan Harapan government to state its decision on the Telom Dam project.
This is especially in light of the impending Cameron Highlands by-election, which Pos Lanai villagers will be voting in.
“The government should make a stand on the dam project before polling day. What is your stand on this? This is going to destroy their tanah adat (ancestral land).
“The second thing is more immediate, please do not burden those who are protesting (against the dam) with such costs,” he said.
The Election Commission previously announced that polling day for the by-election will be on Jan 26 while nomination day will be this Sat (Jan 12). - Mkini
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