TEMERLOH – A total of 147 Orang Asli from the Semai tribe are seeking a court declaration that they are the holders of customary rights of the land in Kg Pos Lanai, Kuala Lipis, near here.
In the suit filed in August 2021, they named the Pahang government, the state land and mines director, the state forestry director, the Malaysian Orang Asli Development Department director-general and the Malaysian government as defendants.
The case came up for hearing today before judicial commissioner Roslan Mat Nor.
In the statement of claim, the plaintiffs are seeking the court to compel the Pahang government to gazette a 14,418ha site in Mukim Ulu Jelai and the Ulu Jelai Forest Reserve as an Orang Asli reserve under the Orang Asli Act 1954.
They are also seeking the court to declare that the defendants have no right to reduce or destroy the plaintiff's rights to the land or carry out activities that may affect the land.
The plaintiffs, represented by lawyer Harneshpal Singh Bhullar, claimed that they were residents of the land which they inherited from their ancestors,
They also claimed several incidents of encroachment on the land since 2013, including for the proposed construction of hydroelectric dams, logging and the study on rare earth mining, which caused damage to the land and inconvenienced them.
The construction of the dam was however cancelled in October 2018.
As such, they are seeking a declaration that all steps or omissions by the defendant in relation to the construction of the dam, logging approval and the study of the proposed rare earth mining, are against the law, invalid and void. – Bernama, April 10, 2023
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