Reform Jakoa, Orang Asli MP urges govt

 

The first Orang Asli MP, Ramli Mohd Nor, says Jakoa lacks manpower and many of its officers are low-ranking civil servants.

KUALA LUMPUR: The country’s first Orang Asli MP has called on the new government to reform the main body overseeing the community’s affairs.

Ramli Mohd Nor said the Orang Asli development department (Jakoa) is in dire need of an overhaul as it has not been doing a good job of helping the community.

“The quality of (the department’s) work is dismal,” Ramli told FMT, claiming that homes and infrastructure provided for the community were not built according to specifications.

The Cameron Highlands MP said the department suffered from a lack of manpower and many who served in Jakoa were low-ranking civil servants.

On average, he said, there are only three Jakoa officers in each district to help the Orang Asli.

“I have spoken to Jakoa director-general Sapiah Mohd Nor to increase the number of officers with the necessary experience and expertise.

“You can’t have low-grade officers chairing meetings on projects worth hundreds of thousands or millions of ringgit,” he said.

He also said there was a need for Jakoa officers to have more empathy for the Orang Asli, and cited one example of a case that was brought to his attention.

“An elderly man had gone to seek assistance for his child who wanted to further his studies and the Jakoa officer asked him to go to a cyber cafe to fill up an online form.

“How do you expect someone who has never seen a computer in his life to do that? This is what I mean by the need to have empathy,” he said.

FMT has reached out to Jakoa for comment. - FMT