IPOH, April 25 ― A group of 35 orang asli settlers from Ulu Geruntum, Gopeng filed a suit against the Federal government and the Perak state government and four others at the High Court here over the construction of a hydropower plant on their ancestral land.

The suit was filed against the six defendants yesterday for infringing the community's rights on 63ha of the affected land ― which they claim was cleared without their consent.

They are seeking several declarations and injunctions from the High Court to protect their ancestral land and stop the defendants or their agents from encroaching the land further.

The settlers, who are from the Semai tribe, come from six villages in the Ulu Geruntum area namely  Kampung Sungai Kapor, Kampung Sat, Kampung Ulu Kepayang, Kampung Empang Main, Kampung Poh dan Kampung Ulu Geruntum.

Besides the federal and state government, the suit also named Perak Hydro Renewable Energy Corporation Sdn Bhd, Conso Hydro RE Sdn Bhd, the Perak Land and Mines director, and the Orang Asli Development department director-general as defendants.

According to the suit, the two private companies had started the project in Sungai Geruntum in 2012.

The group's lawyer A. Sivanesan said nearly 1,000 families were affected by land clearing activities conducted under the project, which began around three months ago.

"The project destroyed the plaintiffs' fruit tree plantations and between 40 and 50 ancestral burial grounds without  permission from the Semai people in Ulu Geruntum. Their water source was also contaminated,” Sivanesan told reporters outside the courthouse today.

"They are not against development but they have been staying on this land for over 400 years. They have special rights to this land which cannot be abandoned.

Sivanesan said the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth defendants ― referring to the government and its' agencies ― had a fiduciary duty to protect these rights under the Federal Constitution and the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954.

Among the declarations and injunctions sought by the plaintiffs include a declaration that they are the legal owners of the ancestral land in Ulu Geruntum ― and that the defendants have no rights to damage limit or erase the plaintiffs' rights to the land.

They are also seeking the court to order the private companies to vacate the land immediately, and compensate the plaintiffs for the encroachment.

The group also want the court to order the federal and state governments to compensate them for failing to uphold their fiduciary duties.

In March, Malay Mail reported that the residents of these six villages were up in arms about the Ulu Geruntum project, as the contractor allegedly cleared the land without their consent.

However, the Perak government replied that the contractor was only building a small hydropower plant there.

State executive councillor  Datuk Saarani Mohamad had told the media then that the government would fence off the orang asli's burial grounds to protect it, while compensating the villagers who had lost their plantations.

He also said the authorities were unable to prevent sedimentation of the river because the villagers did not allow the contractors to place sandbags on the riverbank.