An agency under the rural development ministry, Jakoa is entrusted with managing the affairs of the Orang Asli community and had been without a director-general since Juli Edo’s two-year contract ended last month.
In a statement today, the Cameron Highlands MP said it had come to his knowledge that certain officials from the ministry are “arranging and planning” for the Jakoa director-general’s post not to be held by an Orang Asli.
Ramli, who is from Umno, said that in general, the position had always been reserved for an Orang Asli who is qualified.
“As the sole representative of Orang Asli descent in Parliament, I condemn and completely oppose the efforts of these ‘little Napoleons’ in the ministry’s bureaucracy,” he added.
“I urge them to not play politics and focus on their essential duties as government officials, which is to implement and monitor all government policies so as to achieve their objectives for the welfare of the Orang Asli community as enshrined in Article 8(5)c of the Federal Constitution.
“I also take the opportunity to remind government officials that Article 8(5)c of the Federal Constitution clearly states that quotas in the Malaysian civil service must be given to members of the Orang Asli community who are qualified, and this includes the position of Jakoa director-general.”
A retired senior policeman who won the Cameron Highlands by-election in January 2019, Ramli said the Perikatan Nasional-led government must be fair and equitable in the appointment of the Jakoa director-general.
“PN should also pay more attention to various outstanding issues affecting the Orang Asli community.
“Among these are socio-economic development, education, health, the gazetting of Orang Asli land and customary land, and the general welfare of the community,” he said.
Ramli added that the Orang Asli are lagging far behind Malaysian society in general in all these aspects.
Meanwhile, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang supported Ramli’s insistence that an Orang Asli be appointed to the top spot at Jakoa.
Saying that there are too few Orang Asli holding senior positions in Jakoa and the rest of the civil service, Lim noted a 2018 parliamentary reply in which it was stated that only 111 out of a total of 998 staff in Jakoa were Orang Asli.
Only one was in the “management and professional” rank, with the remaining either supporting or lower rank staff.
“We have talked for six decades about the upliftment and development of the Orang Asli with very little to show,” the Iskandar Puteri MP said in a statement.
“After six decades, we don’t even have an Orang Asli minister or deputy minister.
“This is most disgraceful, and the latest suggestion that a non-Orang Asli be appointed Jakoa director-general should not be entertained.”