Saturday March 5, 2011
By RUBEN SARIO
sario@thestar.com.my
KOTA KINABALU: A group of ethnic Murut Tagol broke into a traditional dance after the High Court quashed a conviction against six of their community members for trespassing into a forest reserve to plant hill padi.
In his landmark ruling, Justice Datuk David Wong Dak Wah held that the natives of the state possess customary rights to the land.
“They have the authority to be on the land to cultivate and to do other things allowed by their customs,” he said in overturning a magistrate’s court ruling against the six Murut Tagol men.
The men from Kampung Imahit, some 450km from the state capital, were detained by the Forestry Department on Oct 20, 2009 and charged with trespassing and cultivating crops in a forest reserve.
During the trial, they told the court that they were not informed about the gazetting of the area as a forest reserve and were not consulted over the matter.
They also claimed that the department had evicted them from their ancestral land, which also holds more than 100 graves of their ancestors.
The court, however, found them guilty of the offences and imposed a RM6,000 fine on all of them.
They paid the fine.
Source : The Star
By RASHVINJEET S. BEDI
For the 26 Temuan families who won the RM6.5mil settlement in the Federal Court on Wednesday, the award went beyond its monetary value.In his landmark ruling, Justice Datuk David Wong Dak Wah held that the natives of the state possess customary rights to the land.
“They have the authority to be on the land to cultivate and to do other things allowed by their customs,” he said in overturning a magistrate’s court ruling against the six Murut Tagol men.
Jubilant jig: Members of the Murut Tagol community, in their traditional garb, staging an impromptu performance near the Kota Kinabalu court complex after the ruling.
Andawan Ansapi, Barani Ambisi, Ansanam @ Azman Yapau, Johndy Kawar, Stanley Boyor and Sarim Arus were initially found guilty by the Tenom magistrate’s court on Nov 12, last year for trespassing into Kuala Tomani Forest Reserve and for cultivating hill padi.The men from Kampung Imahit, some 450km from the state capital, were detained by the Forestry Department on Oct 20, 2009 and charged with trespassing and cultivating crops in a forest reserve.
During the trial, they told the court that they were not informed about the gazetting of the area as a forest reserve and were not consulted over the matter.
They also claimed that the department had evicted them from their ancestral land, which also holds more than 100 graves of their ancestors.
The court, however, found them guilty of the offences and imposed a RM6,000 fine on all of them.
They paid the fine.
Source : The Star
A long-awaited victory
By RASHVINJEET S. BEDI
sunday@thestar.com.my
ASK any of the Temuan orang asli folk in Kampung Bukit Tampoi about theSagong Tasi & Ors court case and they are very likely to use the wordberjuang (struggle).
They say it as if they were involved in a war, but it is probably the most appropriate word to describe their arduous 14-year wait to get compensation for what was rightfully theirs.
Lost land: Sagong (left) showing what used to belong to the Temuans. — BernamaOn Wednesday, the Federal Court awarded RM6.5mil to members of 26 families of the Temuan tribe whose land was taken from them 15 years ago for the construction of the Nilai-KLIA highway.
Their fruit trees, crops, oil palm and rubber trees were all destroyed to make way for the development. So were 13 houses, a balai raya(community hall) and a balai adat. In short, the Temuan lost their source of income and survival.
Back then, they were compensated for what was on the land but not the value of the land.
So this victory goes beyond the monetary award, say most of the villagers. More importantly, it is about the recognition of the rights of people who were there before anyone else.
Sagong Tasi, 79, who was bemused by the amount of media coverage on the case (especially on the day of the court decision) believes it was their fate to win.
Surrounded by a small group of young people in his village, he recalls the tedious and tiring process of going to court.
Plodding on: Sediah and her grand-daughter Iryana Natalie, 3. Sediah now works as a cleaner earning RM650 monthly.“But we never gave up and we can now lay claim on something that was ours,” he says, speaking in Malay.
Ilam Senin, the Village Security and Development Committee (JKKK) chairman, is glad that the case is over although he is not entirely satisfied with the award. (The amount is considered to be not as much as the land’s market value.)
The son of Senin anak Angan, one of the original plaintiffs who died eight years ago, he says: “We could have taken the fight further but it would have taken longer. But at least it is recognition.”
And now that the case is over, says Ilam who has been involved in it from the start, the families want to get on with their lives.
He says a balai raya, estimated to cost RM80,000, would be built in the village which is located near Dengkil town.
The rest of the money will be divided among the 26 families.
“The compensation will range from an estimated RM40,000 to RM480,000 per family depending on the size of the land,” Ilam explains, adding that he has advised them to be prudent and to look out for people who might want to make a fast buck by cheating them.
Rights recognised
Another plaintiff, Dabak Cabut, 90, who is ill and finds it hard to move around, claims that he could not care less about the outcome of the case, although he never missed a day in court.
“I am happy as long as no one disturbs me. I have enough to eat, what else do I want?” he says.
He adds that he was angry when he was driven out of his land 15 years ago but he has already moved on with life. And yes, he says, he agrees it is good that the rights of the orang asli have been recognised.
This seems to be the most important message resonating among the villagers.
Sediah Binjen, 45, whose house was demolished and she had to move, remembers that her family was not given enough time to vacate.
“Our struggle has not been in vain even though we waited for a long time,” she says.
Sediah works as a cleaner earning RM650 monthly for five-and-a-half days of work a week. On Sundays, she cleans up after the pasar malam (night market) and gets an additional RM300 a month.
“The money (from the court case) will be my savings for old age. I have to continue working for now,” she says.
The significance of the case is also not lost on most of the younger generation who were schoolgoing children when it was first brought to court.
Ilam: ‘We could have taken the fight further but it would have taken longer. But at least it is recognition.’Rikino Akma, 24, remembers the time when he used to follow his grandfather to collect jungle produce.
“This has opened the eyes of people. We can go to the courts and get our rights. When the development happened, many people were affected and their source of income was reduced,” he says.
While Rikino says the money can be used to improve certain aspects of their life, he acknowledges that they should use it wisely. For some, it would mean replacing the zinc roof on their houses while for others it would be an opportunity to have more land.
“It would not be wise to use all the money to buy material things. The best way to use the money would be to invest in something that can generate more money, such as a business or land,” says Rikino.
More needs to be done
Dr Colin Nicholas of the Centre of Orang Asli Concerns says the case has set an important precedent for orang asli claims to their native title rights over their customary lands.
“Cases like this are happening in a lot of places. Many want to go to court because they have exhausted all avenues but there are not enough lawyers to do pro bono work,” he says.
Similarly, Masjid Suhut, the president of the Peninsular Malaysia Orang Asli Association, says the case only goes to show that their rights are finally being recognised.
“The money is not the most important thing because it will eventually be finished. The priority was the recognition of our rights. If we have no rights to the land, where are we supposed to live – in the sky? We have been around for a long time; before anyone else,” he says, adding that people would now think twice before taking land away from the orang asli.
“People used to say that we have no rights to the land,” stresses Masjid.
He says that for Bukit Tampoi, the villagers were offered a paltry sum compared with those who owned land adjacent to theirs.
This group had a lot of semangat (spirit) and had to face a lot of challenges such as threats, adds Majid.
“The role of the lawyers who worked on pro bono terms should also be acknowledged,” he says.
Masjid also hopes that the Department of Orang Asli Affairs will take note of the case. He claims that they are not very supportive of their court cases and that one high-ranking official in the department even told the Temuan folk they could kick him in the butt if they did win the case.
“My ears were hurting after hearing some of their remarks. And they are supposed to look after our rights,” says Masjid.
Dr Sarjit S. Gill, professor of Social Anthropology at Universiti Putra Malaysia, says the Government should do more now to tackle the plight of the orang asli.
There have been more than 2,000 research papers, publications and theses on the orang asli but they are still lagging behind in many areas and are plagued by a host of social problems, he says.
“Many have no proper savings and are living in hardcore poverty. They want help, but the development we want to bring to them is not what they want.”
He reminds that they can determine the result of 45 parliamentary seats and that it would be important for the Government to discuss their needs. (There are an estimated 147,000 orang asli in Peninsular Malaysia and the majority reside in 869 villages.)
“They have a very important role,” says Dr Sarjit.
Dr Sarjit believes that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is open towards the orang asli and is sure he will do his best to help them even though land matters come under state purview.
Source: The StarNCR land victory for Nor Anak Nyawai
Thursday, 05 August 2010 Combat By Joseph Tawie, Free Malaysia Today
KUCHING: Native customary land owners Nor anak Nyawai and three others yesterday won another round of victory against Tatau Land Sdn Bhd, Superintendent of Lands and Surveys, Bintulu and the state government of Sarawak, when the Kuching High Court allowed their application for an injunction until the disposal of the case.
The disputed land is described at Lots 15 and 16, Block 3 Sangan District respectively in Tatau, Bintulu. The plaintiffs, represented by Baru Bian, are asking for various reliefs including a declaration that the issuance of provisional leases is null and void.
Additionally, they are also seeking a prohibitory injunction restraining the first defendant, Tatau Land Sdn Bhd, its servants and agents from entering, clearing and occupying the land over which they (the plaintiffs) claim native customary rights.
The plaintiffs’ application is for an interlocutory order in relation to the prohibitory injunction which is one of the reliefs the plaintiffs are asking for in the action.
In their affidavit to support their application, the plaintiffs said that their ancestors have for many generations past, until now continued to occupy, cultivate and use the land they are claiming to be entitled to under native laws and custom.
They said that they were neither aware of nor consented to the issuance of the provisional leases to the first defendant, Tatau Land Sdn Bhd which constituted the termination of their native customary rights over land covered under the provisional leases.
Towards the end of November 2010, the servants of the first defendant and the second defendant, the superintendent of lands and surveys, demolished 25 houses within Lot 16 and unless restrained 30 more houses belonging to the plaintiffs would also be demolished and at the same time the physical evidence constituting proof of the plaintiffs’ claim to native customary rights at the trial of the action would be destroyed.
The first defendant resisted the application for interlocutory injunction. The first defendant, by an affidavit filed on its behalf, admitted to being the registered proprietor of the 650 hectares of land under Lot 16 which was alienated on Dec 23, 2002 and to be developed into a new township called Samarakan.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
Thursday, 05 August 2010 Combat By Joseph Tawie, Free Malaysia Today
Additionally, they are also seeking a prohibitory injunction restraining the first defendant, Tatau Land Sdn Bhd, its servants and agents from entering, clearing and occupying the land over which they (the plaintiffs) claim native customary rights.
The plaintiffs’ application is for an interlocutory order in relation to the prohibitory injunction which is one of the reliefs the plaintiffs are asking for in the action.
In their affidavit to support their application, the plaintiffs said that their ancestors have for many generations past, until now continued to occupy, cultivate and use the land they are claiming to be entitled to under native laws and custom.
They said that they were neither aware of nor consented to the issuance of the provisional leases to the first defendant, Tatau Land Sdn Bhd which constituted the termination of their native customary rights over land covered under the provisional leases.
Towards the end of November 2010, the servants of the first defendant and the second defendant, the superintendent of lands and surveys, demolished 25 houses within Lot 16 and unless restrained 30 more houses belonging to the plaintiffs would also be demolished and at the same time the physical evidence constituting proof of the plaintiffs’ claim to native customary rights at the trial of the action would be destroyed.
The first defendant resisted the application for interlocutory injunction. The first defendant, by an affidavit filed on its behalf, admitted to being the registered proprietor of the 650 hectares of land under Lot 16 which was alienated on Dec 23, 2002 and to be developed into a new township called Samarakan.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
