Court grants Orang Asli villagers injunction against Kelantan govt

 

A court order has temporarily barred the Kelantan government and a list of mining, logging and plantation companies from entering a patch of jungle in Gua Musang, that the Orang Asli community there claimed as ancestral land.

This morning, Kota Bahru High Court judge Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh granted the injunction sought by Kampung Kelaik folk.

The Temiar village comprises about 200 people and is represented in the lawsuit by three individuals - Ahak Uda, Aziz Angah and Anjang Uda.

The trio’s lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan confirmed the decision with Malaysiakini.

“We got all we asked for in our application for the injunction,” he said.

This means no work can be carried out in the contested territory until the next hearing, scheduled for April 7.

Kampung Kelaik is located in the Gua Musang interior, about one and a half hour’s drive from town.

The plaintiffs filed the injunction on March 11 against a total of 14 defendants - including the state government, Kelantan Forestry Department, Kelantan Land and Mines Department, Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa) plus 10 companies.

The 10 companies are Syarikat Perlombongan Gua Musang Sdn Bhd, Redstar Capital Sdn Bhd, Aqua Orion Sdn Bhd, Damat Corporate Services Sdn Bhd, Sindiyan Sdn Bhd, Sindiyan Agro Park Sdn Bhd, Ladang Kelantan Sdn Bhd, Ikrar Bumi Sdn Bhd, Ladang Ulu Nenggiri Sdn Bhd and Iliasco Engineering and Construction Sdn Bhd.

The injunction is to:

1. Bar the defendants whether themselves, service providers or agents from performing mining, logging and/or plantation activities on Kampung Kelaik ancestral land and its surroundings until the case was fully decided by the court;
2. Bar the defendants from performing any secondary activities that were related to the activities listed in 1;
3. Bar the Kelantan government whether themselves, service providers or agents and/or through help or advice from the state forestry department or Jakoa from approving or issuing any licences involving the land and its surroundings until the case was fully decided;
4. Bar the defendants from clearing the land and/or crops, ancestral orchards, surrounding forest and/or destroying ancestral burial sites and/or buildings on the land and its surroundings until the case was fully decided;
5. Bar the defendants from polluting rivers and water sources in the land and its surroundings; and,
6. Bar any parties, individuals and/or companies from encroaching into the land to carry out logging, plantation, mining and/or any for-profit commercial activities or any business activity on the land.

The plaintiffs argued that the defendants had encroached on their land and cleared their crops, orchards and surrounding forest areas used by Kampung Kelaik folk to sustain their livelihood.

They also claimed the defendants had destroyed several of their ancestral burial sites.

The trio further said the defendants’ commercial activities had polluted several rivers used by Kampung Kelaik folk for drinking, cooking and cleaning.

The injunction was part of the plaintiff's application to seek a declaration that the Kampung Kelaik Orang Asli are the rightful owners of their ancestral land.  - Mkini