KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 — Half a month after the government dismantled their blockade near Gua Musang, the Temiar Orang Asli of Kelantan are once again erecting a new barrier to keep loggers — legitimate and otherwise — out of the rainforest they call home.
Construction started three days ago at Pos Bihai, DAP-owned news portal Roketkini reported today.
“Even though the blockade is demolished, the houses demolished, we will defend.
“Because this blockade aims to protect the remainder of the existing forest,” Mustafa Along, secretary of local group Jaringan Kampung Orang Asal Kelantan, was quoted saying.
He said the local community of Temiars from three districts, Angkek, Depak and Bihai, were erecting the new blockade not just to protect Orang Asli rights, but for everyone’s interests.
“This area that is being defended is upstream.
“If this place is flooded like last time, it will definitely affect downstream,” Mustafa was quoted saying further.
The northeast coastal state of Kelantan was hit hard by floods in December 2014 that left parts of its jungle interior, where many Orang Asli reside, underwater for weeks into the new year.
This month, heavy rains have already forced the evacuation of dozens of families living in neighbouring Perak and Pahang.
Late last month, 47 Orang Asli were arrested by the Kelantan Forestry Department and their three-month-old blockade and huts at Simpang Petei and the entry route to Pos Bihai, dismantled.
Subsequently, the PAS-led Kelantan government announced it has approved 973 hectares of land at Pos Gob as an Orang Asli reserve and a further 15,000 hectares of permanent forest reserve for them to roam and hunt. The land decision is awaiting gazetting.
