 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
Putrajaya, Malaysia (AFP) March 17, 2010 Some 500 indigenous Malaysians on Wednesday mounted an unprecedented protest over a government bill they say will deprive them of land. Activists for the Orang Asli, the term for the native tribes in peninsular Malaysia, say the legislation expected to be tabled this July will give them only 50,000 hectares (123,550 acres) of the 129,000 they claim. "Who are you to give the land when it is already the Orang Asli's," said Colin Nicholas, coordinator for the Centre for Orang Asli Concerns, addressing the government. Several protesters carried multicoloured placards saying "Don't take away our rights" and "We are willing to bathe in blood" as leaders handed over a memorandum to rural and regional development minister Shafie Apdal. Some of the demonstrators, who gathered outside the prime minister's office in the administrative capital of Putrajaya, were dressed in loincloths and colourful headgear made of flowers, tree bark and coconut leaves. "We open our ears to whatever grouses the public, in particular the Orang Asli, have. If anyone says we are depriving them, we are neglecting them, that's not true," Shafie told reporters. Activists want Orang Asli claims to their customary land recognised, saying their continual occupation and economic activities establish their ownership. Nicholas said the planned amendment to the Aboriginal People's Act would give each family between two and six acres of land. "Once they get this plot of land, they will lose (their rights to) other plots of land," he said. Shafie confirmed the proposed amendment would give each each family two to six acres but said the terms were not final. "This is not finalised so that's why we need their views. We are willing to listen," he said. The Orang Asli make up less than one percent of Malaysia's 28 million population and are generally disadvantaged in terms of income, health, education and living standards.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Forestry News - Global and Local News, Science and Application
Technology helps Liberia turn the page on 'blood timber'Monrovia (AFP) March 16, 2010 Liberia's rainforests, once ravaged for blood timber sold to fund one of Africa's bloodiest civil wars, are being primed as a lucrative and legal industry using cutting-edge tracking technology. One by one an electronic tag - similar to bar codes used on consumer products - is attached to trees in the thick woodlands covering 45 percent of the West African nation, a painstaking process tha ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook