FOR 60 years, the Orang Asli in Kg Sg Teras, Slim had been living in without electricity until last week as leaders are campaigning for the state by-election.

Although the community is happy with the development, the Orang Asli are peeved that it has taken them so long to get electricity while others in the country have long been provided with steady power supply.

“Just a few days after it was reported that we don’t have electricity, action was immediately taken.

“But our complaints over the years yielded no results,” said Semai spokesman Gaharai Kadik.

“The politicians come here for all sorts of campaigns but never for any issues that we are facing such as the electricity and water crisis.”

It was previously reported that power poles to the village of 250 had been erected in 2018 but the electrification project was abandoned.

The houses in the village had electric meters but without supply.

Now that they have electricity supply, the orang Asli is urging for the authorities to provide them with clean water.

Their current source of water is either from a lake or the hills.

“During rainy season, we cannot directly use rainwater because it is dirty. So, we have to keep water in kettles and buckets,” said villager Shahruddin Yeoksiku, 39.

“We are not asking for much, we just want to be treated equally like others.”

The Slim by-election campaign trail has been taking place for the past week and will go on until this Friday.

Apart from Kg Sg Teras, there are three other Orang Asli villages in Slim are Kg Orang Asli Changkat Ramu, Kg Buluh Seruas and Kg Sg Jentong.

Slim has a total of 23,094 voters, of which 1.4% are Orang Asli. The others are Malays (74%), Indian (12%) and Chinese (10%).

A total 267 early voters, comprising police personnel, will cast their ballots tomorrow.

Three candidates are contesting in the by-election – Tg Malim Umno chief Mohd Zaidi Aziz who is representing Barisan Nasional and two independent candidates, lawyer Amir Khusyairi Mohamad Tanusi and former teacher S. Sentharasekaran.

Amir Khusyairi is supported by Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s yet-to-be registered Parti Pejuang Tanah Air. – August 24, 2020.