MORE housing units for the Orang Asli community are needed in Bekok, says its assemblyman Tan Chong.
He said many from the community had voiced hope for Johor government to address the lack of houses for them in the constituency in Segamat district.
“I often receive complaints from Orang Asli village chiefs on the need to increase housing, complete with water and electricity supplies, for them.
“To my knowledge, more than 140 applications from the community in Bekok have been submitted to Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa) for houses,” he told the state assembly during a debate session at Bangunan Sultan Ismail in Kota Iskandar.
Tan said at present, there were six Orang Asli villages in his constituency – Kampung Kudung, Kampung RPS Tembayan, Kampung Tamok, Kampung Kemidak, Kampung Selai dan Kampung Lenek.
“We hope the state government through Jakoa will consider their requests so that the Orang Asli can live comfortably.”
He also highlighted that better roads were needed between Kampung Lenek and Kampung Baru Sungai Karas in Labis.
Tan said the distance between the two villages was 6km but the time taken to travel between them was long due to lack of proper roads.
“Residents wanting to travel to Labis town for daily errands have to take the long way using Jalan Utama Segamat-Yong Peng.
“If proper roads can be constructed, it will benefit hundreds of residents in the surrounding area, including Kampung Panca Jaya,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tan told the state assembly that he was against the implementation of a paid parking system in Labis, as it was a small town located within Segamat district.
“Residents mostly use motorcycles as their main mode of transport, so there is not much need for local council paid parking bays.
“It will also be a burden to small-town folk,” he said, adding that he had spoken out against the implementation of such a system years ago.
