Welfare of Orang Asal neglected by PN Govt - Jannie Lasimbang

9 Aug 2021

By Nur Syafiqah Abdullah

KOTA KINABALU: The Perikatan National (PN) government has neglected its duty to protect the rights and welfare of the Orang Asal and it has put Malaysia to shame, said DAP Sabah Native Affairs Council Jannie Lasimbang.

It is also the duty of the government to improve the lives of the Orang Asal, in line with the commitment it has made through the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and as enshrined in the Federal Constitution, she added.

"The Orang Asal all over Malaysia continues to raise complaints of land dispossession and imposition of unwanted development, social discrimination, and non-recognition of indigenous culture and religion.

"Basic infrastructures like roads, and clean water and electricity supply in many rural Orang Asal villages are in very poor or non-existent," she said in a statement today.

Jannie also mentioned that some 1,000 Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia have tested positive and at least 23 have died.

"Orang Asli communities are doubtful whether all the RM12 million for food baskets allocated by the PN government would reach them.

"Orang Asal in the rural areas have also complained that vaccination was slow to reach them and their children are losing out on education due to the absence of free internet and computer or smartphones promised by PN," said the assemblywoman for Kapayan.

In Sabah, Jannie said the recognition by the Warisan Plus government to Orang Asal was thrown out of the window after PN government came into power.

"The Ministry of Law and Native Affairs was abolished and the annual commemoration of the annual World Indigenous People's Day in August that was formally adopted is no longer allocated funds nor held.

"The failure of the PN government at the national level and the Gabungan Rakyat Government in Sabah to recognise Orang Asal rights can be corrected through a genuine participation and partnership that fosters equal opportunities and respects the rights, dignity and freedom of the Orang Asal."