A GROUP against the degazettement of the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve fear that Orang Asli village chiefs there were forced or misled into signing consent letters to change the forest’s status.

The Pertahankan Hutan Simpan Kuala Langat Utara said it is imperative the state government follow the principle of free, prior and informed consent, which is required when dealing with indigenous communities under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Malaysia is a signatory to the declaration.

The group said it was told that seven out of eight tok batin (village chiefs) in the Kuala Langat district had apparently indicated their support for the degazettement.

The coalition is now calling for an investigation into the matter.

“We are seeking clarification from both the Orang Asli community and Orang Asli Development Department at the state and federal levels on what transpired,” it said in a statement today. 

“There are several questions around the manner in which the consent of the chiefs was obtained by the authorities. 

“These include allegations that the chiefs were not provided legal counsel prior to signing the letter, may have been given incomplete or misleading information with the process not undertaken in an open and transparent manner, and the village chiefs feeling pressure to sign if they did not want to lose their villages,” the group, which comprises 15 environmental and human rights entities, as well as a political party, said.

On November 2, Bukit Lanjan assemblyman Elizabeth Wong had also raised the issue in the Selangor State Assembly.

“They (Orang Asli) felt they were squeezed; they were forced to sign because they were given two choices which I felt were unfair. If they wanted to keep their village, they had to sign the letter (to support the degazettement),” Wong had said.

Shaq Koyok, a coalition member and Temuan activist whose village is affected, said, “I was surprised to learn the tok batin had signed the letter without citing the necessary legal framework and not done in discussion with the community, which is normally done”. 

The group said many Orang Asli communities living adjacent to the forest reserve are still against the proposed degazettement, as was made clear in a town-hall meeting on September 29. 

The chairman of the public inquiry, Hee Loy Sian, had told the town-hall participants that the Selangor government had agreed several years ago to gazette all Orang Asli villages in the state, including in the Kuala Langat district. – November 17, 2020.