People’s Struggle For Justice

About the Speaker Aliran member Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj, an award-winning respiratory physician, is actively involved in our Citizens Health Initiative as well as grassroots group Alaigal. Kumar (as he is popularly known) is also a protem committee member of the yet-to-be registered Parti Socialis Malaysia (PSM) and had contested against Samy Vellu for the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat in Perak in the 1999 general election. Despite not winning the seat, Kumar kept his promise to the people of Sg Siput by setting up a PSM service centre in the area. Since the Jan 2002 opening of the centre, which operates 3 nights a week, PSM has received more than 750 cases as well as numerous requests for help from various marginalised communities in the area.

In his presentation, Kumar spoke of the struggles faced by some of the communities his group was involved with e.g., the Sg Buloh farmers, the Ladang Kamiri workers, the Orang Asli from Kg Ulu Chenein and ground tenants from Perak Hydro Kampung II. Issues ranged from low wages and retrenchment to loss of land and evictions.

At the best of times these communities are neglected by the powers-that-be. At the worst of times, when their land is required for ‘development’, they are evicted and their rights trampled upon. Some communities were being displaced, with no regard for their length of stay on the land or the length of time they had worked in the area. Others had no access to water despite government promises during the last elections.

For instance, 48 families of Orang Asli live in Kg Ulu Chenein. They were promised piped water in 1999. Their current water supply comes from a river that has been contaminated with herbicides used in the FELDA oil palm plantation. But the pipes that were laid near the village did not reach each house. The Department of Orang Asli Affairs told them to bear the costs of connecting the pipes themselves. The contractor gave them an estimate of between RM300 to RM700.

Working Together

Kumar said that these marginalised communities could not wait for political change to take place but had to take steps to ensure their basic rights and access to justice. The way forward was to have the community come together to challenge such injustices. This requires an analysis of the situation, empowerment and mobilization of the people. While the laws to safeguard these communities may be inadequate, the people should not be seen as powerless. By working together they have shown that they can exert pressure so that political discretion can be used to safeguard their rights. The powers-that-be can ill afford the negative publicity, which will ultimately lose them votes.

So in the case of the Orang Asli from Kg Ulu Chenien, after waiting for two years for the pipes to be connected to their homes, the community approached PSM. An action committee was formed. Letters were sent to relevant authorities and the action committee met with different officials, including the Deputy State Director of Department of Orang Asli Affairs, Perak. Eventually each house in the Kg Ulu Chenein had both piped water and electricity installed without cost.

Pressure and Struggle

PSM believes in the empowerment of the marginalised communities. Working together with these communities, it facilitates the setting up of local action committees to work towards acceptable solutions to the problems, be it alternative housing, land or better retrenchment benefits. At times the local action committees have faced tremendous pressure from the police, the developers, the contractors and even the courts.

The retrenched estate workers from Strathisla provide a good example. Although they are now being given a 45 by 80 foot housing lot each free of charge, RM650 per year of service and 7 acres of lands for re-siting the school and temple, it took a 4-year struggle before a Consent Agreement was recorded in the Ipoh High Court between the State owned corporation, PCBD, and the 20 former workers of Strathisla estate. During this time, the state owned corporation had allegedly involved both the police and local gangsters in an attempt to intimidate the workers. Eviction notices were served to the retrenched workers.

The workers fought back. They stayed put, blocking any attempt by PCBD to work within their residential area. More than 20,000 leaflets regarding the eviction were distributed to the Perak public. A signature campaign appealing to the Menteri Besar to intervene on behalf of the workers resulted in 7, 000 signatures being collected and delivered to the Menteri Besar’s office. Lawyers helped the Strathisla residents prepare a defence in court. And in the end, there was a positive outcome.

Then there are the Sg Buloh farmers: 21 vegetable farmers and cattle rearers were served eviction notices by the Land Office as their land was required for low cost housing. They were not offered alternative land. The farmers worked together with PSM. They held a press conference. They met with the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and submitted a memorandum to the Agriculture Minister in Kuala Lumpur. After all their efforts, eight farmers have been told that they do not have to move, eight farmers have accepted RM5,000 in lieu of alternative land and five farmers have been offered alternative land. These five farmers continue farming while waiting for the land to be given.

While some of these marginalised communities have had positive outcomes to their long struggles, there are others who are still struggling for justice. These include the rubber tappers from Ladang Kamiri. When Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd decided to replant the rubber estate with oil palm in 1999, these tappers were retrenched and only offered RM330 per year of service as compensation. So a tapper who has given 25 years of his/her life to the estate would receive approximately RM8, 000. There was no attempt to compensate the workers for loss of housing, schooling, community hall or their temple. Guthrie has not responded to any of the 10 letters sent to them by the workers. Recently Skrine (the legal firm representing Guthrie) has sent them eviction notices. The workers have lodged a police report against Guthrie’s high-handed behavior. The struggle for justice continues.

Non-violence

Kumar spoke of the strength and the conviction shown by many individuals in the communities, especially the older women. Some have been known to lie down in front of the bulldozers to prevent the demolition of houses. Others have stood together in solidarity blocking the path of the bulldozers. PSM and the communities use a non-violent approach. Committee leaders, however, have been physically assaulted by developers and thugs, while PSM/Alaigal activists continue to get arrested – 13 arrests in the last calender year. The fight for justice continues. With unjust laws, few legal safeguards, weak political will, it is vital that people stand together to fight for the respect and the justice they truly deserve.

The talk was an eye opener for many who came that night, hearing first hand of the struggles, the strategies, the gains and the losses of the weak and marginalised sections of our society. Many were moved by the conviction of the ordinary people and the PSM team. The evening ended with an enthusiastic question and answer session.

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