(The Sun) PUTRAJAYA (April 14, 2008): A directive from Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to the state legal adviser to review its stand on the land rights of the Orang Asli has given the indigineous people a new ray of hope.
Datin Paduka Zauyah Loth Khan, in seeking a postponement in the Federal Court here yesterday, told the three-member panel of judges, the instruction from the Selangor state government came late yesterday.
"The state government needs some time to study the matter," said Zauyah to the panel which was headed by Chief Justice Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohamad and assisted by Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Alauddin Mohd Sheriff and Datuk Zulkifli Ahmad Makinuddin.
Senior federal counsel Datuk Mary Lim Thiam Suan, who represented the government ,requested that the appeal be heard at the earliest possible date, after a two-week adjournment.
Lawyers representing the Orang Asli, Datuk Dr V.Cyrus Das and his team and Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia (LLM) and United Engineers (M) Bhd did not object to the postponement request.
Abdul Hamid then said the panel decided to postpone the case to a date to be fixed.
Outside the courtroom, more than 50 Orang Asli men and women appeared cheerful with the sudden twist of events.
Zauyah declined to elaborate on the latest move by the state government except that the instructions came from Khalid at 9pm yesterday.
Das, meanwhile, said the postponement is an indication the state government wishes to review the case.
"We look forward to a more favourable review of the land rights of the Orang Asli," he added.
Newly elected state executive councilor, Elizabeth Wong, who is in-charge of the Environment, Tourism and Comsumer Affairs portfolio, said Khalid had proposed the Orang Asli deserved a fair compensation.
"He has indicated that the Orang Asli should be treated like any other citizen," said Wong.
She said Khalid has also instructed a meeting be organised with the Orang Asli in the state to look at long lasting and comprehensive solution to their problems.
"We are not committing to anything, but to say that it is important to listen to their grouses," said Wong.
She added the Orang Asli in Selangor remain marginalised and it is the state government’s position that no one should be left behind in development.
She spoke to reporters after attending the appeal hearing of the case in the Palace of Justice here yesterday.
Sagong Tasi and six other Orang Asli had sued the Selangor state government, the Malaysian government, UEM and LLM.
The seven plaintiffs belong to the Temuan tribe. The first defendant, the Selangor state government, evicted them and their families from their land in Kampung Bukit Tampoi in Dengkil.
The second defendant, UEM is the contractor building the highway. The third defendant, LLM is the Malaysian Highway Authority, while the fourth is the Federal Government.
The Sepang District Office executed the land acquisition exercise.
The plaintiffs claimed adequate compensation on the basis that the land they had been occupying for the last two centuries was customary land.
They also claimed damages for illegal eviction from the first defendant, damages for trespass from the second and third defendants and special damages.
The defendants refused to pay, apart from a small amount for damage caused to the plaintiffs’ houses and crops on the grounds that the land was, in fact, state land.
In the Court of Appeal, the appellants submitted that the respondents had been over-compensated by the Shah Alam High Court.
They further argued the respondents were only entitled to compensation provided under the 1954 Act, and not under the Land Acquisition Act 1960.
The Orang Asli, meanwhile, argued they were treated shabbily when evicted from their land. They were only given 14 days to vacate the land that they had been occupying for more than 200 years.
The Court of Appeal, on Sept 19, 2005, upheld the Shah Alam High Court’s decision to declare Sagong Tasi and six others as customary owners of the 15.32 hectare plot in Kampung Bukit Tampoi, Dengkil, Selangor.
The appellate court affirmed the High Court decision that the Orang Asli of the Temuan tribe owned the land under a customary community title of a permanent nature.
Since their constitutional rights had been violated, the court ordered that the Orang Asli be paid the market value as prescribed under the Land Acquisition Act 1960.
The court also ruled that it was wrong for the Selangor government to pay compensation for the loss of livelihood and damage to property when the land was taken to construct the Kuala Lumpur-Nilai highway.
The Court of Appeal also ordered UEM and LLM to pay damages to the Orang Asli for trespassing on the land.
The case was monitored closely, especially by the federal and state governments, in relation to their jurisdiction under the Federal Constitution, Aboriginies Peoples Act 1954 and other subsidiary laws.
On Nov 22, 2006, the Federal Court allowed an application for leave to appeal against the Court of Appeal decision which ruled in favour of the Orang Asli.
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