GUA MUSANG, Kelantan: A total of 184 documentation matters involving the Orang Asli community in remote areas here have been resolved through the National Registration Department’s (NRD) ‘Menyemai Kasih Rakyat‘ (MEKAR) programme.
Kelantan NRD’s Director, Halimatusaadiah Ramli @ Mohd Shah, said the cases involved 101 identity card replacements, 61 MyKid applications, 15 first-time identity card applications, five amendments to identity card details, and two amendments to birth certificates.
She said the programme, carried out under the ‘Kembara Be Ades Ma Kampung’ initiative in the Galas state constituency, also provided registration and documentation advisory services to 270 residents.
“The implementation of MEKAR in remote areas enables the Orang Asli community to access NRD services more easily, quickly and efficiently,” she said when contacted.
Meanwhile, Orang Asli housewife, Lela Rosli, 37, from Pos Belatim here, said the programme had made it easier for her to arrange for the replacement of the identity card of her 15-year-old son, Hadi Ifri Abdullah, who is a bedridden person with disabilities.
She said financial and logistical constraints had previously made it difficult for her to take her eldest to the NRD office, as her husband, who works as a rubber tapper, earns only about RM100 to RM150 a month.
Meanwhile, Galas assemblyman, Datuk Mohd Syahbuddin Hashim, said more than 1,000 food baskets, each worth about RM100, had been distributed to the Orang Asli communities in Pos Hau, Pos Balar, Pos Bihai and Pos Belatim in preparation for the Northeast Monsoon.
He said the distribution, which is usually carried out in November or December, was brought forward this year to ensure that residents had sufficient food supplies before heavy rain affected access to the remote areas.
“The food baskets, funded by the Galas assemblyman’s service centre in collaboration with strategic partners, contain essential items such as rice, flour, cooking oil and sugar. The distribution is carried out through village representatives based on the latest number of heads of households,” he told reporters at Pos Belatim here.
He advised residents to avoid travelling during heavy rain and to refer to the Department of Orang Asli Development (JAKOA) for information on road conditions. – BERNAMA
