KELANTAN TRIBE WINS LAND ROW APPEAL
High Court declares 9,300ha in Pos Belatim customary land of the Temiar
SHARIFAH MAHSINAH ABDULLAH KOTA BARU sharifahmah@nst.com.my
AFTER a six-year legal battle, the High Court here yesterday declared the 9,300ha piece of land in Pos Belatim in Gua Musang the customary land of the Orang Asli from the Temiar tribe.
Judge Datuk Zainal Azman Ab Aziz ruled that the land be reserved as aboriginal land and that the Orang Asli had the right to live there. Years ago, the land had been given by the state government to a company to be developed into an oil palm plantation.
He ordered the state government to gazette the land, which had been planted and cultivated with oil palm.
“The land must be surveyed and the title issued to the Orang Asli. The state government has one month to do the survey work.”
Lawyer Lim Heng Seng appeared as the lead counsel for the Orang Asli. He was assisted by Yogeswaran Subramaniam, Tan Hooi Peng and M. Rahj Kumar, while Kelantan assistant legal adviser Nazlyza Mohd Nazri represented the state government.
Speaking outside the court, Lim said his clients were jubilant over the decision.
“This case involved Orang Asli land which had been given to a state agency to carry out a Ladang Rakyat project. They complained that this was encroachment of their land and asked the court for declarations and orders.
“After hearing the evidence produced, the court decided the land was indeed customary, handed down over eight generations. It is their right and therefore, must be protected.”
Lim said the state government, however, could still appeal the decision.
About 100 Orang Asli and several members of non-governmental organisations attended yesterday’s hearing.
The Temiars discovered in 2011 that their customary lands had been contracted out by the Kelantan government to be developed by a company as an oil palm plantation on a 99-year lease.
They filed a judicial review the same year against the state government and its land administrator but this was thrown out by the High Court in 2014. However, the Court of Appeal later ordered a retrial, ruling that the High Court judge had erred in his decision to throw out the case.