Video of charred Orang Asli home indicates fresh land grab, says activist
The video footage of a Semelai Orang Asli woman showing the charred ruins of what was once her late grandfather’s rumah kebun (green house) is sad and powerful, but also indicative of the plight of her community who are facing a fresh land grab, according to Centre for Orang Asli Concerns director Colin Nicholas.
In the May 12 video, which is taken at Kampung Paya Berangan near Bera, Pahang, a Semelai woman tells the harrowing tale of how the house belonging to her late grandfather was razed along with other minor buildings and fruit trees, which were all destroyed the night before.
It is understood that the family has lodged a police report on the matter, but Nicholas believes that the destruction was a calculated move designed to force them from the disputed area which measures 67.7 hectares.
“Since 2003, individuals have been coming in and claiming individual lots and parcels of land.
“Now, there is currently a proposal to develop a group settlement plan or Rancangan Tanah Berkelompok (RTK) called RTK Jeram.
“This proposal involves those from the Malay villages of Kampung Jeram and Kampung Durian Tawar in the Temerloh district. There is now a claim that this is Malay reserve land,” he told Malaysiakini.
Nicholas said he first visited the area in 2007 and that the Semelai were also engaged in a fight to stop encroachments into Kampung Paya Berangan and nearby Kampung Paya Badak, which collectively are home to 200 villagers.
The same thing happened in Kampung Bukit Rok and Kampung Ibam, in Bera district, where the state government wanted to create Felcra estates for neighbouring Malays, claiming it was a Malay reservation since 1927. Batin Mohamad Nohing and others took the case to court.
“I found that the British had issued a broad declaration in 1927 that for a 270-mile stretch of the Sungai Pahang, three miles on either side would be Malay reserve land. They did this blindly without checking whether anybody else, including the Orang Asli, were residing there.
“So, the courts then found that the creation of the Malay reservation in 1927 did not extinguish the native title rights of the Orang Asli to their customary land and I believe the same principle should be applied here,” he added.
The Semelai villagers do not intend to give up easily and are appealing to the state government to find a solution for an area of the land that they have been occupying since 1948, according to tribal chief Sari Sapar.
In February, Semelai villagers claiming customary rights over a plot of land in Kampung Orang Asli Lubuk Perah which is also in Bera, and on which they have been living on for over a century, were ordered to make way for a company tasked with clearing the land for oil palm cultivation.
This came after the high court in Temerloh allowed the application by Elite Agriculture Sdn Bhd, which claimed to have a 99-year lease on the 655ha land, to repossess it. - Mkini
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