RUBIAH: 86 PER CENT OF ORANG ASLI VILLAGES EQUIPPED WITH BASIC FACILITIES

PUTRAJAYA, July 19 (Bernama) -- Eighty-six per cent of the 853 Orang Asli villages in the country are equipped with basic facilities such as electricity and clean water, said Deputy Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Rubiah Wang.

She said 737 Orang Asli villages have received electricity supply and 736 villages have enjoyed clean water supply.

Rubiah said the 853 Orang Asli villages are in Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Perak, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Johor.

“Everything that has been implemented has been under the RMK12 (12th Malaysia Plan). The rest (villages which have not received basic facilities) will be brought in under the RMK13,” she said at a press conference after chairing the Orang Asli Consultative Council (MaPOA) Bill Meeting Number 1/2024 here today.

She said, in addition to electricity facilities and clean water supply, the government has also built 6,212 kilometres (km) of roads in 755 Orang Asli villages.

She said sharing the new infrastructure facility project will be a road construction project, involving a 93 km stretch, to be implemented in the near future in Gua Musang, Kelantan.

"I was informed that at the end of this month there will be a site handover and groundbreaking ceremony. This project will involve many Orang Asli villages (in Gua Musang) and it will benefit more than 7,000 residents," she said.

Rubiah also said that in today’s meeting she was informed about the focus of the Orang Asli Development Department (JAKOA) which includes aspects of economic stabilisation and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) skills among the Orang Asli community.

“We will increase (multiply) the organisation of entrepreneurship programmes. What is important now is that we focus on the TVET skills programmes like the one we have opened at the Pusat Latihan JAKOA Paya in Pahang," she added.

The MaPOA meeting is the 19th council meeting after the last one was held in 2022.

MaPOA, established on July 31, 2021, is a platform for Orang Asli representatives and stakeholders, namely central agencies and state governments, to provide views and feedback related to Orang Asli community development policies and strategies.

-- BERNAMA