PRIME Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government need to resign for failing the Orang Asli, Cameron Highlands MP Ramli Mohd Nor said.

As the country’s sole Orang Asli lawmaker, Ramli said PN has not charted any strategic development or direction for the indigenous community during its 18 months in power, whether on education, basic infrastructure, economic and human development issues.

Ramli added that PN has also failed to resolve long-standing problems of native land rights.

“The PN government did not even have a plan,” said Ramli, who is one of the 15 Umno MPs who have pulled support from Muhyiddin.

It also did not follow through with promises to form an economic development agency akin to Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) for the Orang Asli, he added.

“The prime minister, the Economic Planning Unit and the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economic Affairs) all agreed in principle to forming this agency.

“Yet it was rejected by the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, which is the ministry that oversees Orang Asli affairs. It was rejected outright by officials who said it cost too much, even though the prime minister had already agreed to it.

“The question is: is it the prime minister, his cabinet or ‘little Napoleons’ in the civil service who are setting policies for Malaysia’s Orang Asli?” the first-term MP said.

The government has also neglected the Orang Asli Affairs Department (Jakoa) by failing to appoint a new director-general from among the Orang Asli, a post that has been vacant for six months.

Ramli said there was also no Orang Asli representation in the cabinet. – August 16, 2021.