After calling Kampung Orang Asli Selai their home for over 112 years, the Orang Asli in Bekok, Segamat in Johor are seeing red after being accused of trespassing on the “government-owned land”.
Johor Orang Asli Action Committee chairperson Achai @ Juti Kais told Malaysiakini the residents are baffled and infuriated after being slapped with a notice by the Segamat Land and District office on May 22 to vacate the land.
The 60-year-old said they were given 30 days from when the notice was served to do so.
“The notice issued to us prohibits us from entering without permission. What is the Orang Asli community supposed to do if we can’t enter the forest?
“We can’t be separated from the forest. Because our place is in the forest and near the rivers, from our ancestors and generations before us,” Achai told Malaysiakini.
It appears that the Segamat villagers are not the only ones facing this predicament, as Achai revealed that the Orang Asli community in Mersing and Kluang were served with the same notices on the same day.
He lambasted the Land and District office, saying it was tactless of them not holding discussions with the villages’ tok batin (village chiefs) before issuing the notice.
“If it is proven true that the residents have trespassed the area, they should discuss with the tok batin first.
“How can they send the notice without informing the villagers when we have a tok batin in this village and he’s appointed by the government?”
It is understood that Achai made attempts to meet the Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa) to get an urgent solution due to the 30-day deadline.
Sultanate land proposal
On March 16, Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar urged the state government to declare all Orang Asli reserves and villages as sultanate land to prevent misappropriation of the land.
The Johor ruler said this was necessary because some Orang Asli had converted state forest reserves into extensive palm oil and rubber plantations.
The Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954 (Act 134) protects Orang Asli reserves from alienation or disposal, but state governments have the power to revoke this protection.
Meanwhile, Johor’s Sultanate Lands Enactment states that plots of sultanate land are owned by the ruler and cannot be sold, leased, or disposed of without the sultan’s written permission.
The “sultanate land” classification proposal drew brickbats from the Orang Asli community.
Achai said his committee sent a letter to object to the proposal to Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi’s office on May 3.
“I hope the Johor state government would be willing to sit with us to discuss this matter so that it does not turn into a problem.
“When it was time to vote (during the elections), the Orang Asli will be picked up, no matter how far, and brought to cast our ballots.
“But after the election, the Orang Asli community is made into refugees, like immigrants. That’s not good. I will defend our rights to our customary land rights,” he asserted. - Mkini
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