The head of the family group in the Batu 10 Gunong Arong settlement has been asked to relocate to the nearby Orang Asli settlement of Kampung Labong, Mersing.
The State Director of the Johor Department of Orang Asli Development, JAKOA, in a letter dated 23 June 2015, instructed Awang Rambai to vacate the forest reserve area he is occupying as it went against the National Land Code.
The Department offered him a place in his ‘original settlement’ as well as a house under the ‘Program Bantuan Rumah’ (Housing Aid Programme). But there was no mention of any offer of land or participation in any agricultural scheme. Or whether the house is already ready.
The same offer, however, was not extended to the other 6 families at the Gunong Arong settlement.
The consolation for Awang Rambai, at least, is that he and his family are no longer considered as illegal settlers from Pahang, which has been a secondary rationale for the demolition of the houses on 2 June 2015.
The families have still not agreed to comply with the order to relocate to Kampung Labong.
CN-COAC | 5 July 2015