THE government will have to pay RM1.2 million to fully settle the negligence suits filed by Orang Asli families over the disappearance of seven kids from a school hostel in Pos Tohoi, Kelantan, eight years ago. 

Based on the settlement terms recorded before Kota Baru High Court Judge Mohamad Abazafree Mohd Abbas yesterday, both parties reached an agreement that the government will pay RM1.2 million and costs of RM60,000 as full and final settlement – without any acknowledgement of liability. 

The third party (the insurance company) agreed to pay RM150,000 including costs as full and final settlement for all the cases. 

Lawyer and activist Siti Kassim, who was supposed to appear as first witness, said the settlement was agreed upon between government representatives and the families’ lawyers before the trial. 

In 2018, the plaintiffs filed the suit against nine defendants for breach of constitutional duty, statutory duty, and fiduciary duty, causing seven Orang Asli children of Sekolah Rendah Pos Tohoi in Gua Musang to go missing from their hostel for 47 days. 

They named the Malaysian government, the education minister, the education director-general, the headmaster, the hostel warden, the rural development minister, the Orang Asli development director-general, the inspector-general of police, and Gua Musang police district chief as defendants. 

The seven children, comprising six girls and a boy, escaped from the school’s hostel on August 23, 2015, as they feared punishment for swimming in a river without permission.  

Of the seven, only Norieen Yaakob, then 11, and Miksudiar Aluj, then 12, survived after getting lost in the jungle for 47 days. 

Norieen’s younger brother, Haikal, eight; Ika Ayel, nine; Juvina David, seven; Linda Rosli, eight, were found dead in the jungle, while Sasa Sobrie, eight, was not found. 

The plaintiffs were represented by lawyers Gurdial Singh Nijar, Andrew Yeap, and Tan Hooi Ping while Senior Federal Counsel Andi Razalijaya A. Dadi acted for all defendants. – Bernama, July 25, 2023.