19/12/2011 (Bernama) - The government will ensure that the Orang Asli community is not left out of the country's mainstream development, Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal said.

Various development programmes had been implemented to uplift the socioeconomic standard of the community, covering a wide range of areas, he added.

Among them was the provision low-cost houses where the government allocated RM26.2 million to build 496 new houses and repair another 712 units belonging to the Orang Asli, he said.

"These projects are implemented in collaboration with the Armed Forces under the National Blue Ocean Strategy 3 and are running smoothly," he said at an outreach programme at Sungai Kroh, an Orang Asli village, near here Saturday.

The programme was organised by the Yayasan 1Malaysia Development Board, Yayasan Felda and Permodalan Nasional Berhad.

On the development programmes for the Orang Asli in Perak, he said, the ministry had approved the opening up of three plantations, totalling 341 hectares, which would be planted with oil palm and rubber by 500 Orang Asli participants.

"The government also allocated RM3.5 million to build 120 houses for the Orang Asli next year," he said.

In terms of education, he said, RM2.5 million had been allocated to provide transportation to 3,500 Orang Asli students while another RM500,000 had been set aside to provide food assistance for 2,500 Orang Asli students in 12 rural schools.

As for infrastructure facilities, Shafie said the water supply project in Sungai Siput would be completed in June, giving benefits to 6,000 people in 30 villages.

The community, he said, should therefore be ready to change towards a better future apart from fully supporting the government to make sure the success of these programmes.

Speaking to reporters later, Shafie took to task those who accused the government of trying to fish for votes by giving out RM500 assistance to those whose household income was less than RM3,000 a month, and RM100 to school students.

He added that the opposition parties were only good at making disparaging remarks on all things that were done by the government.

"The government implement programmes which are good for the people," he said, adding that the Orang Asli community should not be easily influenced by the promises given out by the opposition.

Meanwhile, he said, the government was in the process refining the relevant act to allow the Orang Asli community to own land.

"It has been agreed to in principles and I'm in the process of discussing this with all the Menteri Besar," he said.

-- BERNAMA