Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar said such a classification will provide better protection of such land now under the state land enactment.

“The boundaries of Orang Asli land were decided by the state authority during the reign of Sultan Abu Bakar decades ago.

“In addition to the sultanate land enactment, enforcement action against violations of this legislation should be toughened,” Bernama reported him as saying in a Facebook post last night.

Sultan Ibrahim said measures must be taken to avoid irresponsible elements from exploiting the Orang Asli community.

He said there have been cases where the Orang Asli have been exploited by groups who encroached into their land illegally to carry out logging activities, planting oil palm trees, and also hunting for animals.

“The Johor government is taking good care of the Orang Asli by providing roads, housing, schools and suraus. Some areas have also been provided with internet access.

“Despite this, some irresponsible quarters are taking advantage of the community to exploit them. Hundreds of acres of their land have been illegally cultivated. This shows there are outsiders involved,” he said.