• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • RSS
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
The Nut Graph

The Nut Graph

Making Sense of Politics & Pop Culture

  • Projects
    • MP Watch
    • Found in Conversation
  • Current Issues
    • 6 Words
    • Commentary
    • Features
    • Found in Quotation
    • News
  • Columns
  • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Found in Malaysia
  • Multimedia
    • Audio
    • Pictures
    • Videos
  • Corrections
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Vault
    • Found in Translation

S’gor to withdraw appeal in dispute with Temuans

By Gan Pei Ling

April 22, 2009

SHAH ALAM, 22 April 2009: The Selangor government will withdraw its appeal to the Federal Court over the Sagong Tasi case involving the Temuan tribe’s land rights.

In a statement today, Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the decision was made at state executive councilor (exco)’s meeting today.

He said the state legal advisor would inform the Federal Court tomorrow of the state government’s intention to withdraw the case.

“The state government believes in protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and will continue to treat the Orang Asli community with the respect they deserve and that should have been accorded to them from the very beginning,” he said.

He expressed hope that the Selangor government’s decision would help address the problems faced by the Orang Asli.

The Sagong Tasi case, which has been in the courts since 2000, involves the 1995 acquisition of 38 acres of the Temuan’s customary lands at Bukit Tampoi, Dengkil for the construction of a highway to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

In 1996, seven Temuans including Sagong Tasi sued the federal and Selangor governments, construction firm United Engineers (M) Bhd, and the Malaysian Highway Authority for their loss of land and dwellings as a result of the government’s acquisition of their land.


Sagong Tasi in 2005 at a Human Rights Day event (Pic courtesy of Suaram)

In 2002, the Shah Alam High Court ruled that the Temuans were unlawfully evicted from their ancestral lands, located in central Selangor.

Additionally, High Court Judge Mohd Noor Ahmad ordered all four defendants to compensate the Temuan plaintiffs for the loss of their land in what was a historical ruling.

The four defendants then appealed to the Court of Appeal. But in 2005, Court of Appeal judges Ariffin Zakaria, Gopal Sri Ram and Nik Hashim Nik Abdul Rahman unanimously upheld the High Court ruling.

Moreover, the Court of Appeal increased the compensation for the Temuans by including both their gazetted and non-gazetted land, compared to the High Court decision that asked for compensation to be paid for the gazetted areas only.

Centre for Orang Asli Concerns coordinator Colin Nicholas hailed the Selangor government decision as “morally and politically correct and just”.


Colin Nicholas
“It is a logical conclusion to the position taken by the Pakatan Rakyat government on Orang Asli land rights issues,” he said in a phone interview.

He added that the Barisan Nasional government did not ever do the same while it was in control of the state government.

Nicholas said the Selangor government’s decision set an important benchmark for other state governments and agencies in dealing with the Orang Asli.

Task force

Khalid also said in the statement today that the state has formed an Orang Asli Land Taskforce to protect the propriety rights of indigenous communities.

The taskforce, to be launched on 4 May, will address land-related issues after taking into account the concerns raised in the 2005 Court of Appeal judgment regarding the gazette of Orang Asli land.

Nicholas, who is involved in the taskforce, said it would be able to address bureaucratic obstacles that the Orang Asli face when trying to claim their rights over native customary land.

Selangor exco for tourism, consumer affairs and environment Elizabeth Wong said the taskforce’s priority would be to identify customary land that have not yet been approved or gazetted by the state government.

“This is the most difficult issue to tackle but it is the most fundamental [for the Orang Asli],” she told The Nut Graph, adding that the taskforce would consult the historical records in the land district offices and the Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli. It would also collaborate with historians, she said.

She said the taskforce hoped to resolve pending issues amicably in three months.


Orang Asli in Kampung Rembai, Selangor (Pic by Adzla @ Flickr)

Khalid’s media officer Arfa’eza Aziz  said the state did not want to take an adversarial approach and go to court every time there was a land dispute with the Orang Asli.

She said the taskforce would help the state settle these issues administratively.

The taskforce, which had its first meeting on 16 April 2009, comprise mainly Orang Asli representatives, and is chaired by a member of the community.

“Elected state representatives who have Orang Asli in their constituency will also be involved in the taskforce,” Wong said.

She added that the taskforce would work closely with an already established land taskforce co-chaired by Datuk Dr Tan Kee Kwong and Datuk Dr Prof Nik Md Zain.

Arfa’eza said there were about 14,000 Orang Asli in Selangor, mainly from the Temuan and Mahmeri tribes.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related Stories

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Colin Nicholas, Elizabeth Wong, Khalid Ibrahim, land rights, Orang Asli, Orang Asli issues, Pakatan Rakyat, Sagong Tasi, Suaram

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. WY Kam says

    April 23, 2009 at 5:27 am

    Finally, a government for all … not Malays, Chinese and Indians but everyone. Hip hip hurray!

  2. Kamal says

    April 23, 2009 at 3:56 pm

    This is good news. Finally, one state government is taking the responsible and right step in addressing indigenous land issues. Let’s hope this sets the precedence for others to follow.

  3. KJ Khoo says

    April 24, 2009 at 11:08 am

    Congratulations to the state government for doing the right thing. Incidentally, the Orang Asli population of Selangor is more than 20,000 today. It was around 17,000 in 2000 when the last census was taken, and assuming a low growth rate of 2% per year would bring it above 20,000.

Primary Sidebar

Search

Twitter

My Tweets

Recent Comments

  • Wave33 on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Adam on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • PSTan on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • PSTan on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Andre Lai on The Nut Graph stops publication

Recent News

  • The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Nasihat tentang sepupu yang mengganggu perasaan
  • Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: The Sunni-Shia split and the answer to Muslim unity
  • Why Malaysia needs the national unity bills
  • Challenging government in the digital age: Lessons from Kidex
  • Najib’s failure
  • Babi, anjing, pondan: Jijik orang Islam Malaysia
  • Kidex and the law – What the government’s not telling you
  • Beyond Dyana Sofya
  • Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: Does Malaysia need hate speech laws?

Tags

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Anwar Ibrahim Barisan Nasional BN Bukit Selambau by-election dap Deborah Loh Ding Jo-Ann Election Commission elections Found in Malaysia Found in Quotation Gan Pei Ling government high court Hishammuddin Hussein ISA islam Jacqueline Ann Surin Khairy Jamaluddin KW Mak Lim Guan Eng Malaysia MCA Menteri Besar MP Watch Muhyiddin Yassin muslim Najib Razak Pakatan Rakyat Parliament Parti Keadilan Rakyat pas Penang Perak PKR police politics prime minister Selangor Shanon Shah Umno Wong Chin Huat Zedeck Siew

Footer

  • About The Nut Graph
  • Who Are We?
  • Our Contributors
  • Past Contributors
  • Guest Contributors
  • Editorial Policy
  • Comments & Columns
  • Copyright Policy
  • Web Accessibility Policy
  • Privacy Policy
The Nut Graph

© 2023 The Nut Graph