By Augustine Anthony
Perhaps in less than 2 years the road that connects Bertam Valley in Cameron Highlands to Kuala Lipis will be ready. Some say this is good but others particularly the Orang Asli are concerned as to how this construction will affect their lifestyle.
Many small Orang Asli villages can be seen along the road that is now under construction.
The consequence of the construction of this road will see the process in which many Orang Asli families will be displaced from their original ancestral land. Thus the displacing of these people from their original ancestral land could lead to many socio economic problems often seen in many other parts of this country that affects the Orang Asli.
The immediate concerns for those who are affected by this road construction are:-
1.Whether the uprooting of these families from their ancestral land would cause them to lose their foraging rights in the existing areas,
2.Would concentrating all the Orang Asli in a large settlement area cause serious social problems such as alcoholism, crime and other related problems as often seen in other similar settlements,
3.Would such new living conditions deprive them of their traditional communal activities and traditional jobs and also result in joblessness in the likely developments that will take place soon in areas that were traditionally occupied by the Orang Asli,
It must also be borne in mind that the authorities, in relocating these Orang Asli must always enhance their quality of life instead of reducing it. However the type, built quality and size of the houses constructed for these people often indicates otherwise.
The relevant State Governments as well as the Federal Government must always remember that the Orang Asli are not anti development. Instead all they are asking is a sustained development in which they too will have a place to practise their traditional lifestyle without losing out to the changes that will take place.
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