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By Clara Chooi, The Star IPOH: All 10,000 orang asli (aborigine) families in Perak will soon receive titles to their own individual plots of land.
Senior state executive council member Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham said a two-level committee had been formed to handle the matter and expedite the distribution of the titles for a total of 32,537ha (80,400 acres) of land. “We want to get this done as soon as possible. It is pointless just sitting around discussing things,” he said during a meeting held to form the committee at the State Secetariat here on Tuesday. The first level of the committee comprises state government representatives, including government department officials, while the second level comprises orang asli organisations and non-governmental organisations, which will discuss the matter with the indigenous families. “Once the committee brings this information down to the orang asli and explain to them what we plan to do, we hope to start giving out the titles as soon as possible,” he said. Ngeh said the state government planned to give each family a 3.3ha piece of land, of which 0.1ha would go for the construction their homes, 0.8ha for a fruit orchard and 2.4ha for the plantation of commercial crops. “We are doing this to empower the orang asli and help them change their social economic status. “By giving them land, they can increase their productivity and income levels and at the same time, we can alleviate the number of hardcore poor in Perak,” he said. Ngeh added that the orang asli only owned 0.03% of land titles in the country. “We hope that this will be a turning point for the people. “We know we may hit snags along the way but we ... need to take the first step,” he said. Ngeh added that despite their small population, the indigenous community actually contributed to half the number of hardcore poor in Perak. “But now, if they persevere and work hard on their lands, they can earn at least between RM2,000 and RM3,000 monthly,” he said.
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