GUA MUSANG: The Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa), together with various government agencies, has launched an outreach expedition to deliver essential services to three remote Orang Asli settlements in the Nenggiri state constituency under the Mesra Rakyat programme.

Jakoa director-general Datuk Sapiah Mohd Nor said the programme brings together the Social Welfare Department, National Registration Department (NRD), Health Ministry, National Anti-Drugs Agency, Gua Musang Court, South Kelantan Development Authority and the Nenggiri state assemblyman's service centre to help the villages.

She said the collaboration aimed to facilitate direct access to government services for the Orang Asli, without requiring them to endure long and difficult journeys to town, with Pos Simpor, Pos Pasik and Kuala Wook selected as the destinations for the two-day expedition, which began Saturday (May 31).

"This initiative is the result of coordination among various agencies under the Rural and Regional Development Ministry," she told reporters during the programme at Pos Pasik, here Sunday.

Meanwhile, Nenggiri assemblyman Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani said the initiative received overwhelming support from local residents, who took advantage of the chance to engage directly with various government agencies present.

The most popular service was the NRD counter, which received about 140 applications for identity card replacements, 10 late birth registration applications, and 145 applications for MyKid.

"A total of 138 advisory services were also provided to residents regarding documentation and citizenship rights," he said.

Meanwhile, for Zulaina Alim, 30, a Temiar woman living in Pos Pasik, the programme marked a turning point in her life when she finally managed to register the birth of her child, who is now 12 years old.

She said her child was born at the Kuala Betis resettlement scheme health clinic, but she had to return to her village, more than 70km away from Gua Musang shortly after giving birth, causing the registration to be delayed for more than a decade.

"I came today solely to apply for the birth certificate and the process went smoothly. My child will finally have a birth certificate," she said. - Bernama