BALING, Aug 1 — Forty-three Orang Asli from the Kensui tribe are demanding dividend arrears from a rubber plantation management company here, claiming that payments were overdue for almost two years.
Tok Batin (village head) Razali Kulim said that based on a previous agreement, the company, Bayu Rimba Enterprise Sdn Bhd, was supposed to pay out a monthly dividend of RM300, including groceries worth RM150 to the group but it has been stopped, affecting many of them.
“When the company initially took over the management of the 173-hectare plantation, there were no problems, but of late, for over a year, the payments have not been made,” he told a press conference yesterday.
Razali also claimed that rubber production is still going on as usual, but the company has been keeping silent on the outstanding dividend payments.
“Even if it is only RM150, it is of great value for our community to feed our families,” he said.
He said that despite a meeting involving representatives of the Orang Asli community and the company at the Department of Orang Asli Development (Jakoa) office in Grik, Perak, there was still no resolution to the matter.
Yesterday, a second police report was lodged at the Baling police station against the company for allegedly contravening the agreement, after the first one lodged on May 3.
Meanwhile, Bayu Rimba Enterprise director Mohd Taufik Yaacob said he took over the management of the plantation, which had been abandoned in 2010, by using his own capital of RM 1.7 million to develop phases one and two of the Orang Asli land.
“My company was appointed by Jakoa and there is an agreement between the company and the Orang Asli. The terms include a dividend payment, depending on productivity, and current market prices,” he said.
Taufik said although his investments have not yet yielded returns, he still pays out a dividend totalling about RM700,000 as a courtesy. — Bernama
