Tasik Chini Orang Asli Object To Pahang Govt S Special Area Plan

---

 


Orang Asli from five villages in Tasik Chini in Pekan today submitted a memorandum objecting to the Pahang state government's latest plan for its Tasik Chini Forest Reserve and Tasik Chini Special Area Plan.
This comes after the land area to be gazetted includes the villages and their ancestry land, which the community believe will deny the Orang Asli their rights.
"Based on drafts of the special area plan and forest reserve gazette, we found that our ancestry land areas at five villages are being included in the gazette.
"What is very disappointing to us is that the authorities had never engaged the Orang Asli community in their planning for the special area and Tasik Chini Permanent Forest Reserve.
"From the documents we received from Pekan District Office, all our five villages are within the plan which is done according to the National Forestry Act, and indirectly has denied our rights as the natives on this land from using the area which we inherited from our ancestors.
"As we understand, this also means that Orang Asli villagers would need to get permission from authorities to go into the forest around the Tasik Chini area, despite the fact that we have been living here for a long time. 
"The Orang Asli would also no longer be able to continue with our legacy activities such as fishing, collecting produce from the forest, hunting and such, should this gazette be enforced," the memorandum states.
The document signed by representatives of the five villages - Kampung Gumum, Kampung Cendahan, Kampung Melai, Kampung Ulu Gumum, and Kampung Tanjung Puput - was submitted to the authorities during a public hearing session held at the Royal Pekan Golf Club earlier today.
Malaysiakini has sent a request to the Pahang Forestry Department for comment.
According to a document provided by the group, the plan for Tasik Chini Biosphere Reserve Zone is divided into three areas - the Core Zone, Buffer Zone and Transition Zone.
It will cover a total of 9,142.62 hectares of land area, with 3,446.62 hectares as its Core Zone, which includes the Tasik Chini Forest Reserve, the lake's body of water and Kampung Gumum.
According to a photo provided by the group, an overlaid map between the special area plan and the Orang Asli community map showed that the four other villages would be part of the Transition Zone.
The villagers also claimed that the state authorities had excluded several other areas, including mining sites, despite them being situated close to Tasik Chini which is the second-largest natural lake in Malaysia.
"We strongly object to the special area plan and permanent reserve forest gazette because this will eradicate our traditional lifestyle. On top of this, it will also affect our future generation because they will no longer have land area to cultivate crops, which is our main source of income," the memorandum adds.
Tasik Chini was the first biosphere site to be recognised as a Biosphere Reserve Site under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).
However, it came under heavy scrutiny after the lake area, which was found to be rich with flora and fauna, was reportedly impacted by illegal logging and mining activities.
There was also a project planned for manganese mining at a spot close to the lake's body of water, but this was stopped following Malaysiakini's reports on the issue last year.
In July, Malaysiakini reported that Unesco, in its periodical review on Tasik Chini's status, had found that the lake no longer meets the world body's criteria as a biosphere reserve.
As one of its efforts to mitigate the problem, the Pahang state government prepared a proposal to demarcate new boundaries of the Tasik Chini Biosphere Reserve from 6,951.44 hectares to 9,142.62 hectares. - Mkini

---