Sungai Siput - The Orang Asli Affairs Department has called on other states to emulate the state government`s move to allocate individual land titles to the indigenous community in Perak.
Despite objections from Orang Asli activists towards the proposal, department director-general Mohd Sani Mistam said it was a move in the right direction.
He said because Orang Asli customary land was not recognised under the law, alienation of land and forests by state governments for the community was the only way to ensure that it could practise its indigenous lifestyle.
Although the community favoured its traditional land-sharing concept, it must learn to adapt to the modern concept of individual ownership of property, he added.
"The department will meet with the community and have dialogues with it to enhance its understanding of this concept (of individual ownership).
"It is for the betterment of the community... it can work together on land or forested areas gazetted for it as a group, and at the same time, own individual titles to the land," he said at a buka puasa function at the Orang Asli village of Kampung Kenang here on Thursday.
Last month, senior exco Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham announced that the state government had proposed to allocate 3.3ha of land for every Orang Asli family.
The announcement, made on International Day of the World`s Indigenous People on Aug 9, did not go down well with the "Jaringan Kampung Orang Asli Perak", an Orang Asli activists group.
The group claimed that the 45,000 Orang Asli in Perak were not consulted in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) ratified by Malaysia in 2007, stating that all decisions involving Orang Asli must be made with their consent.
Asked about claims made by the Orang Asli people that their customary land was given to others without their consent, Sani said the claim may have its justifications but stressed that the rights of the Orang Asli were not sidelined.
To date, he said 18,000ha of land and forest areas had been gazetted in Peninsular Malaysia for the indigenous community, adding that about 30,000ha more had been approved and were waiting to be gazetted as Orang Asli reserves.
He said the figures did not include thousands of hectares of land and forest parcels awaiting approval of state governments before being gazetted.
There are 27,000 Orang Asli households in Peninsular Malaysia comprising around 142,000 members.
"The Orang Asli Affairs Department is ready to work with state governments and Orang Asli groups to help the community settle in these reserves and seek ways to uplift their livelihood without compromising their rights and lifestyle," he said.
Speaking on his department`s programmes, Sani said the Federal Government had allocated RM20 million to help Orang Asli hardcore poor households and Orang Asli children studying in secondary schools.
The department will spend RM13.4 million to supply essential food items while the rest will be used as pocket-money and travelling expenses for Orang Asli students.
He said the monetary allocation, provided by the government under the Orang Asli Food Basket Programme launched recently, was a move to help the community`s hardcore poor survive in the current climate of high inflation. By : Jaspal Singh
Source: http://www.nst.com.my (September 20, 2008)