Orang asli seek better terms for house ownership

JELEBU: The government has been urged to ease the conditions for the construction of 1Malaysia People-Friendly Houses (RMR1M) to enable the orang asli to own comfortable homes in the area they are currently living.
Jempol's Kampung Sungai Sampo Development and Security Committee chairman, Emi Redziani Rahim said the government did provide RMR1M, and for the indigenous people who had the means and want to have their own house in the area they were currently living, they tried to apply for one.
"However, the application requires a land title in the name of the applicant, whereas we don't have individual titles as the area we are staying on is a gazetted orang asli area," he told Bernama today.
The issue was raised earlier during the question-and-answer session on current issues at a programme with Umno Information chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa, organised by the Jelebu Umno division Information Bureau, here, yesterday.
"When this condition is not met, automatically the orang asli community is not qualified to apply and cannot enjoy the facility provided by the government," said Emi Redziani.
He said the government's sensitivity towards improving the standard of living of the orang asli community in the country was undeniable, especially in providing comfortable accommodation.
"However, if the facility or aid provided for the group cannot be fully enjoyed due to burdensome bureaucratic red tape, it definitely cannot achieve its objectives," he added.
Conceding that the land occupied by the orang asli were orang asli reserves and could not be possibly broken into individual lots, Emi hoped a mechanism could be created to ensure their dream to own a house became a reality.
A resident of the Ulu Chuai orang asli village in Rembau, M. Rizal proposed that working for a minimum of three years and a letter of support from an orang asli headman or the Department of Orang Asli Development be made as new conditions for an orang asli keen to apply for a people-friendly house. — Bernama