TANAH RATA: Representatives of the parliamentary and state constituencies in Cameron Highlands have been always changing but the fate of over 1,200 Orang Asli (Semai) community in Pos Terisu and surrounding areas remain unchanged with the latter claiming to be further discriminated against.
In addition to the lack of infrastructure, they also have to compete with foreign nationals for a living.
For the Orang Asli youths in the village, they have long been patient with such things and feel neglected when the wages paid them are much lesser than that paid to foreign workers besides having to put up with job discrimination.
Speaking to Bernama, Kampung Sungai Getan Tok Batin (village headman), Ahmad Bah Nanggung, 58, said the matter was often voiced out to the relevant parties but the effort was in vain.
Even for the job of a lorry driver, he said, farm owners were more likely to hire foreign workers.
“There are many young people with driving licence. But if you want to apply to become a driver for a Toyota Hilux only Bangladeshis and Nepalese get the job. Where do these people have licence?
“We are living here for years but what do we get? Nothing. When the salary for farm work is RM30, if we ask for a bit more the towkay says it is too high, he does not want to employ the Orang Asli,“ he said.
Wak Noridah Amin, 46, from Kampung Sungai Getan said: “Where are our rights? Our competitors are also foreign workers and their salaries are bigger, but our children are paid lesser wages.”
Meanwhile, upgrading the road to Pos Terisu, 8km long, is seen to be brisk, but not all parts of the road is involved.
Bah Nanggung claimed that the work was hindered by the cultivation of vegetable and flower gardens along the left and right side of the narrow cement road.
“The road has been upgraded from dirt road to cement about 10 years ago. But efforts to upgrade it is being hindered as farmers do not give way to the Public Works Department. There are always unreasonable disruptions and demands,“ he said.
Not only this problem, but the compensation for durian trees felled by a contractor of a telecommunication company which the Orang Asli should have rightly received also received no response.
“As in the agreement, durian trees which are five to six year old are paid between RM400 to RM500 each, while the older trees are paid lesser at RM150 each which until now has not been paid yet. The villagers have complained,“ he said.
For Pos Terisu 3 Tok Batin, Jaafar Mohammad, 47, compensation for land acquisition for the purpose of building substations on their ancestral land has dragged on since 2013, but has yet to be resolved.
Having been patient all this time, the Pos Terisu Orang Asli community wanted a candidate who is given a mandate in the Cameron Highlands by-election to bring a new chapter in their lives.
Pos Terisu comprising 351 registered voters from several Orang Asli villages is part of the Election Division under the Tanah Rata State Assembly in the Cameron Highlands parliamentary constituency.
The Cameron Highlands parliamentary by-election sees a four-cornered fight involving Pakatan Harapan candidate M. Manogaran, Barisan Nasional candidate Ramli Mohd Noor and two independent candidates, Sallehudin Ab Talib and Wong Seng Yee. — Bernama
