Jakun families may have permanent home

ROMPIN: For better or for worse, the Orang Asli village of Kampung Bukit Biru here has been thrust into the limelight.

A few Orang Asli families of the Jakun community built their houses some 10 to 15 years ago in the area where the village now stands, drawn to the location by the “opportunity” of supplementing their income from the sale of recyclables picked at a landfill 300m away.Gradually, the number of families grew into the 22 now.

All the families had actually moved to Kampung Bukit Biru from several nearby villages, which include Kampung Langkap Luar, Kampung Simpai, RPS Runchang and Kampung Sawah Batu.

The Department of Orang Asli Development (Jakoa) has been unable to provide basic amenities in Kampung Bukit Biru up to now because it is just a temporary village and has not been gazetted as an Orang Asli settlement.However, the Orang Asli Mobile Team has been giving close attention to the health of the villagers, conducting health checks periodically, because the settlement is in a somewhat unhealthy environment near the Bandar Muadzam Shah landfill.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P. Waytha Moorthy brought good news to the villagers during a visit on Feb 18.

At a dialogue with the villagers, he said the Federal Government would consider a proposal to have Kampung Bukit Biru gazetted as an Orang Asli settlement of the Jakun community and was prepared to help find a long-term solution to their water and electricity supply issues.

As a temporary measure, Jakoa will send clean water in a tank every week.

Jakoa director Johari Alwi said the department would hold a meeting with the relevant authorities soon to identify the status of the land of the “splinter village” before taking other follow-up action.

Land matters come under the jurisdiction of the state government.

Soon after Waytha Moorthy’s visit to Kampung Bukit Baru, the Pahang Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corp (SWCorp) announced that it had closed the Bandar Muadzam Shah landfill to the public with immediate effect.

SWCorp director Sharudin Hamid said the company had instructed the site operator not to allow public access into the landfill because the area could be hazardous.

Johari said Jakoa would strive to provide new economic activities that could be a source of income for the villagers.

Sena a/l Angkut, 43, the tok batin (headman) of Kampung Langkap Luar, said he felt that it would not be right to gazette Kampung Bukit Biru as an Orang Asli settlement when many of the villagers already owned houses provided under the People’s Housing Programme (PPR) elsewhere.

“Many of them come from other villages. In Kampung Bukit Biru, there are five families from Kampung Langkap Luar and they own houses in Langkap Luar.

“Jakoa also provides special transportation for the children to get to and back from school. Why must they live in a new settlement when their original village has all the amenities?” he asked.

He also said that the environment in Kampung Bukit Biru was unsuitable as the settlement was close to the landfill which could be a source of many problems.

Sena said he would try to coax his people living temporarily in Kampung Bukit Biru to return to their original homes. — Bernama