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 One month ago the mainstream media reported the development of the National
Botanical Garden Project in Kampung Chang, Sungai Gepai, Bidor. This project
encroaches upon the Tanah Adat (customary land) of the Orang Asli, yet we
are given to understand that the Orang Asli were not consulted or informed of
the impending project. The Orang Asli, it would appear, have had no real say in
a project that affects their lifestyle, their livelihood and their heritage,
built up painstakingly over centuries.
The Orang Asli, like every other citizen of this country, enjoy in law, the
protection from any arbitrary acts of the State in depriving them of their land
or livelihood. The Courts in this country have recognised such protection.
The several statements issued by the authorities in relation to this project
provide insufficient information and little comfort to the Orang Asli. Merely
offering compensation or an allocation of land in a different area misses the
point completely. The Orang Asli’s claim is not just about land, it is about
their heritage and their right to self-determination.
A trip to the proposed location of this project brings the point home. The
Tanah Adat concerned has been lovingly nurtured for centuries, and a system
of division of the land for various purposes has been thoughtfully crafted by
their ancestors and carried on through the centuries. This has resulted in a
well-planned and ecologically well-managed environment that is preserved in its
natural beauty. A valuable lesson in ecology and protection of the environment
may well be learned by us from the Orang Asli.
Suggestions that the Orang Asli would be “tourist attractions” underscore once
again the cavalier manner in which this issue is presently handled. These
insensitive and uninformed statements are an assault on the dignity of a proud
Semai Community. The clear, unpolluted streams, waterfalls, rock formations, the
“footprints” of their nenek moyang, the various plant species used for
medicinal purposes and all other minute details of the land which the Orang Asli
easily identify are evidence enough of their rightful stake in this land. These
beautiful sights and sites are there precisely because of the Orang Asli and
their system that has prohibited its abuse.
There is also a startling and unacceptable lack of information as to who is
developing the Project, whom the land has been alienated to, and the exact plans
for its development.
The threat to the rights of indigenous people, often brought about in the name
of development, is one that is recognised worldwide; and the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples recognises their right to the
protection of their culture and native land, and the right to determine their
futures. As a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Malaysia had on
29 June 2006 adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This
is all the more reason why the Government owes a fiduciary duty to the Orang
Asli both under our Federal Constitution and international human rights laws,
and must comply with its obligations to protect and not destroy their preserved
environment and heritage.
The Bar Council calls for an urgent response by the Government to the under-emphasised
plight of the Orang Asli, and in the interim for an immediate cessation of all
work at the site in question. Any development in the area, as in other similar
places, cannot and should not be done without the voluntary consent and
collaboration of the Orang Asli.
The Bar Council further calls upon the Government to take a holistic approach to
all Orang Asli land rights, and to move in the direction of designating
inhabited Orang Asli land as reserved land. It is time we fully recognise that
the Orang Asli are a vulnerable but invaluable community whose livelihood, land
and culture are deserving of our protection.
Dated 25 April 2007
Ambiga Sreenevasan
Chairman
Bar Council
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