The Malaysian Insight

PUTRAJAYA must intervene in the long-running dispute between ethnic Indian villagers and plantation landowners Thamarai Holdings as proof of the government’s commitment to helping the Indian community, said Klang MP Charles Santiago today.

The former rubber plantation settlers are embroiled in a legal battle with former land owners Great Alonioners Trading Corporation Berhad (Gatco), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW).

In the 1970s, the plantation land in Negeri Sembilan was converted into a land scheme for members where villagers were asked to pay RM7,600 each as a deposit to work on the land.

However, the scheme failed and Gatco subsequently sold the land to Thamarai in 2006 to pay off their loans.

The settlers, who claimed that they had rights to the land, launched a legal battle against Thamarai in 2013.

Earlier this month, several settlers were detained when they tried to stop loggers hired by Thamarai Holdings from entering the disputed land areas and cutting down the rubber trees.

Santiago said today that Putrajaya must stop “turning a blind eye” to the dispute, adding that the government must try to negotiate a settlement to put an end to the uncertainty faced by the former plantation workers.

“It has a responsibility to protect the interest of the poor,” he said at parliament today.

Santiago said the villagers were disenfranchised poor who had spent all their money in the 1970s to develop the land they believed belonged to them.

“It is not the fault of the villages that the land scheme initiated by the NUPW collapsed due to mismanagement,” he said.

“Isn’t that the promise of Prime Minister Najib Razak, that he will protect marginalised Indians while launching the Malaysian Indian Blueprint (MIB)?

“If such a promise is not forthcoming, the community can perceive that the MIB is simply ‘vetti pecchu’ (political rhetoric),” he said.

In April, Najib launched the MIB, a comprehensive 10-year-plan to advance minority Malaysian Indians, who make up 8% of the population. – July 26, 2017.