AN activist group and a political party have started a crowdfunding exercise to raise RM30,000 for the Orang Asli of Pos Lanai in Sg Lipis, Pahang to fight off a mining project that they claim will cause massive environmental damage.

Misi Solidariti and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) said the project will also affect the livelihood of almost 2,500 Semai in the area.

PSM secretary-general Sivarajan Arumugam told The Malaysian Insight the Orang Asli are planning to file an affidavit to stop the land encroachments.

The plan is to file for an affidavit as soon as they are able to reach the target needed for their campaign.

The new mining activities approved by the Pahang government are said to be the worst and most destructive project by far, involving 660ha of land and putting families across six villages at risk of environmental destruction.

Sivarajan and Misi Solidariti are currently crowdfunding RM30,000 for the Orang Asli to fund legal costs, data collection, mapping of native customary land, printing and postal services as well travelling costs.

The OA community of Pos Lanai is fighting for a declaration that will compel the state government to gazette their homes and forest as rightful native customary land to protect permanently from encroachment.

Just after successfully shutting down the Telom dam project in 2018, which took them five years and endless protests, they were shocked to find out the plan by the state government and the Orang Asli Affairs Department (JAKOA) to mine rare earth metal lanthanide in the area.

Sivarajan warns that further encroachments on these lands could result in a disaster akin to the Kuala Koh crisis in 2019 where 15 Orang Asli died.

This project will affect those who farm on the lands, he said, adding that, as it is, their fish stock has also decreased due to land encroachment.

According to Misi Solidariti, the project will be detrimental to forests as mining lanthanide exposes deep earth dirt to the surface, which causes soil and river contamination, while the process of separating lanthanide from mined soil leaves acidic and radioactive tailing.

“Not only will this project destroy the environment of their ancestral land, it will jeopardise the livelihood of hundreds of families,” it said.

“The Pos Lanai Orang Asli also face the threat of eviction – being forced to leave their homes in the name of corporate profit.

“In similar cases in the past, this has led to community rot, as the Orang Asli are forced to move to places where they are cut off from the natural resources they depend on to survive.”

Misi Solidariti said besides mining projects, the Orang Asli village is constantly subject to visits by logging companies with licences from the Pahang government, who pressure the Orang Asli to “allow” encroachment.

This ancestral land is steeped in history, it is where Orang Asli have preserved their traditional way of life for more than 100 years, with their death rituals, marriage practices and beliefs of birth.

They hold a profound respect for their forest. Upon entering it, it is forbidden to laugh or deride any animal, person or other life within it.

The land and river are precious to them and the Orang Asli rely on it to sustain their livelihood. – February 24, 2021.