SHAH ALAM, 22 Aug: It is estimated that at least five indigenous villages in Kuala Langat and Sepang will be gazetted by the Selangor government in the near future.
The Exco for Tourism, Environment, Green Technology and Consumer Affairs, Elizabeth Wong, said that the move is to retain ownership of the indigenous people and to no longer be considered as trespassing.
She said that the gazetting process will have to take a long time because the state has a huge number of indigenous villages.
“We have a committee which is the Selangor Indigenous Land Task Force which is coordinated to identify and measure the area of indigenous land.
“So, I urge everyone to be patient because surveying land is not easy, it must use the latest technology,” she said during the Launch of the Selangor International Indigenous Art Festival at the National Botanical Garden near here.
Elizabeth said that so far over 60 indigenous villages have been identified and are waiting their turn to be gazetted.
She said that the state government is also actively collecting indigenous reserve data to ensure that the land issue in the state can be solved.
“At the beginning of the administration, we did not expect that so many indigenous villages had not been gazetted.
“Recently, we have gazetted about 300 acres of land in Pulau Carey and this effort will continue at other villages,” she said.
NS
