THE Kelantan government and agencies will resume operations against those who set up blockades in the state’s interior, be they Orang Asli or plantation companies, Kota Bharu MP Takiyuddin Hassan said.

“I was made to understand that the state government, police and forestry department will take action against (those responsible for erecting the blockades).

“Blockades cannot simply be erected as long as the agricultural or logging activities are licensed, legal,” he told reporters at Parliament today. 

Takiyuddin said it was wrong for any party to simply set up blockades.

He was asked to respond to the latest blockade in Gua Musang where a group of men allegedly from a durian plantation company blocked the only access road to 27 Orang Asli villages in retaliation for their continued blockades at a forest reserve.

“Many logging activities in Kelantan receive licences from the forestry department but they can’t be carried out because of blockades by the Orang Asli,” Takiyuddin said.

For about five months now, the Orang Asli have maintained blockades to prevent logging lorries, back hoes and heavy equipment from entering and stripping the Ulu Kelantan forest reserve which they say is their community’s lifeblood.

On Friday, a group of men believed to be from a durian plantation company erected their own blockade in retaliation, effectively blocking entry into and exit from villages in the area.

The blockade has affected students and teachers and also prevented the transportation of a sick person from reaching medical treatment.

Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, meanwhile, said the state government must find ways to resolve the blockade and prevent future ones.

“I think the solution is to do like other states and gazette some parts of the forest as Orang Asli reserves, because we don’t have that in Kelantan,” the Barisan Nasional lawmaker said when asked about the issue in Parliament.

Earlier today, Deputy Rural Development Minister R. Sivarasa said his ministry with the Department of Orang Asli Development would look at resolving the matter quickly. – July 31, 2018.