Orang Asli chiefs expressing approval for Selangor forest to be degazetted were warned of ‘risks’

KUALA LUMPUR – Did the seven Orang Asli chiefs in the Kuala Langat Utara forest reserve who expressed approval for the controversial degazettement of the very forest they subsist on do so without being unduly influenced by anyone?

One of the chiefs has insisted that it was an informed decision – contrary to claims made by environmental and civil society NGOs opposing the degazettement which would enable a vast part of the equatorial rainforest to be cleared for a mega construction project.

Acting as the chiefs’ representative, Raman Pahat, the chief of the Kg Pulau Kempas Orang Asli settlement, said state officials hinted to them of “risks”, including not seeing their own settlements gazetted.

However, the state government, which plans to degazette the forest from being a protected reserve, is itself also responsible for making areas predominantly or exclusively inhabited by the Orang Asli as aboriginal reserves.

“We were informed by state authorities that we should focus more on getting our settlements gazetted first. They told us about the risks,” Raman told The Vibes.

“So, the seven of us met and discussed. We weighed the pros and cons. And we decided to prioritise the gazettement of our settlements.

“It is unfair to suggest that we were coerced,” he said.

Raman had on September 18 submitted a letter to Selangor’s Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, conveying the seven chiefs’ decision on the degazettement and their own struggle to gazette their settlements.

Raman added that he had informed his village folks about the letter before sending it to the sultan.

Once an Orang Asli village is gazetted, it gets access to paved roads, and water and electricity infrastructure, among other basic needs.

“We would also be eligible for the government’s agricultural initiatives for Orang Asli which we cannot partake because of our lack of land titles in our settlement,” said Raman.

The contention that the decision was made without their “free, prior and informed consent” was floated by a coalition of 15 green groups and civil society NGOs called Protect KLNFR (Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve).

The coalition’s doubt stems from the seven’s favourable nod for the degazettement while at the same time highlighting the problematic situation to gazette their villages.

In its statement to The Vibes dated November 17, Protect KLNF expressed misgiving that the seven chiefs might have signed the letter under duress and/or on partially misleading information.

“We are seeking clarification from both the Orang Asli community and the Orang Asli Development Department at the Selangor and federal levels on what transpired.

“We would like to see a proper investigation undertaken on the allegations mentioned above,” read the Protect KLNFR statement.

Bukit Lanjan assembly member Elizabeth Wong – Selangor’s former executive councillor for tourism, consumer affairs and the environment – echoed a similar suspicion.

She remarked that this was not the first time that she is seeing such a thing happening.

“The Orang Asli are under tremendous pressure to agree, but on the other hand they are not sure what is going on. They were informed that if they agree their homes will be spared

“This happened many times in previous mega projects where indigenous peoples were affected,” she said.

Wong believes that the Pakatan Harapan-led government in Selangor should be more responsible and sensitive to fundamental rights of providing adequate and proper information to people to make informed decisions.

“We should not be enabling interested parties who force a false Hobson's Choice on the indigenous peoples who are already extremely marginalised and under pressure,” said Wong.

As the Selangor state assembly had last week unanimously passed a motion on the need to conserve all forest reserves in Selangor, Wong called for the state government to act on it.

“This is significant because of the international disaster that is unfolding in the form of excessive carbon emissions as we race to the tipping point of no return on climate change,” she said.

“So now the state government must not only take heed, but they have to show their plan of action on preserving the existing forest reserves we have, including those in Kuala Langat.” —  The Vibes, November 19, 2020