Kelantan government ready to face legal suit
Published on: Tuesday, January 22, 2019
By: Bernama
KOTA BARU: The Kelantan government is ready to face the suit filed by the federal government through the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) pertaining to the orang asli issue in the state.
Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob said he was waiting for the official documents relating to the suit from AGC.
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“InsyaAllah (God willing) we are ready to face it as this suit is the first of its kind.
“As of today we have yet to receive the official documents pertaining to the suit and we only know about it through the media,” he said after a meeting with Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin at JKR 10 here.
Two days ago, the AGC, representing the federal government, filed a suit at the Kota Baru High Court on behalf of Orang Asli Temiar against the Kelantan government.
The suit was filed by the federal government, against the Kelantan government and seven other parties to seek recognition of the Temiar orang asli’s land rights in Pos Simpor near Gua Musang and Jan 22 has been set for mention of the case.
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Commenting on the issue, Ahmad said he would discuss the issue at the upcoming state government exco meeting.
He said the state government had actually helped the orang asli pertaining to the groups’ livelihoods, settlements and agriculture.
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“We want to see what the issue is and we are ready to face it,” he said.
The Kelantan state government has reaffirmed that the orang asli have no claims to any customary land in the state.
Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Mohd Omar Abdullah who disclosed this, however, said there were land titles conferred and lands that have been gazetted as orang asli villages.
“There are no such customary land as has been reported,” he said.
The Organisation for the Preservation of Natural Heritage Malaysia (Peka) said the federal government should consider initiating legal action against other state governments that violated the rights of the orang asli.
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