MUSTAFA Along was offered RM200,000 to get his tribe to lift a blockade to prevent logging in the rainforests of Guan Musang.
But Mustafa will not sell out, not even if he were offered RM1 million, as the jungle of Ulu Kelantan is the Temiar’s lifeblood, serving as the tribe’s supermarket, medicine dispensary, water supply plant, and temple.
The Orang Asli blockades at the entry points into three forest reserves, which are also important water catchment areas for Kelantan, have led to confrontations with timber and plantation companies and the Forestry Department and Kelantan government, which supports the planters and loggers.
The clearing of jungle to make way for oil palm plantations has made it hard for the Orang Asli to grow food and get clean water.
As the animistic rituals they practised called for the use of rare plants and wildlife from the forest, the destruction of the surrounding ecosystem violated their constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion, said Mustafa, whose tribe is part of the network of Kelantan Orang Asli villages.
The Temiar tribe have been fighting deforestation since 2012. They have been arrested for protesting and their blockades are regularly torn down by the authorities.
Still, the Orang Asli will not be moved by either threat, bribe or blandishment
“I cannot sell the forests as they are for my children and grandchildren. If I take RM200,000, I will spend it after a short time. But my tribe will suffer in the future.,: says Mustafa. – March 10, 2018.
A lorry carries timber out of the forest reserve in Gua Musang, Kelantan, some 250km from Kuala Lumpur. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, March 10, 2018.Trees have been felled for timber in Gua Musang in the northeastern state of Kelantan. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, March 10, 2018.An Orang Asli from the Temiar tribe has his lunch under a makeshift shelter near a blockade that has been set up by activists to prevent logging in the Perias Forest Reserve, in Gua Musang, Kelantan. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, March 10, 2018.Sungai Berok runs though Gua Musang, Kelantan, where uncontrolled logging is taking place in the forest reserves. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, March 10, 2018.Timber obtained by the denuding of the forest reserve is transported to the market where it will be snapped up by eager buyers . – The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, March 10, 2018.An Orang Asli of the Temiar tribe in a 'tempok', or traditional headgear, at a blockade to protect the Perias Forest Reserve in Gua Musang, Kelantan. - The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, March 10, 2018.A rough shelter provides respite from the sun near a blockade at the Perias Forest Reserve, in Gua Musang, Kelantan. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, March 10, 2018.The Temiar tribe's blockade in Chawas, near the entry point to the Perias Forest Reserve in Gua Musang, Kelantan. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, March 10, 2018.An Orang Asli at the Chawas blockade inspects a vehicle attempting entry into the Perias Forest Reserve in Gua Musang, Kelantan. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, March 10, 2018.A worker at a logging site in a forest reserve in Gua Musang, Kelantan. –
The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, March 10, 2018.Logs awaiting collection at the Perias Forest Reserve in Gua Musang, Kelantan. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, March 10, 2018.Men of the Temiar tribe guard the forest which is their lifeblood in Chawas, against loggers in Gua Musang, Kelantan. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, March 10, 2018.The increased demand for timber is leading to unsustainable forest harvesting and deforestation, threatening the existence those who live off the land, in Gua Musang, Kelantan. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, March 10, 2018.Kelantan Orang Asli Network spokesman Mustafa Along has had to fight deforestation as well as resist bribes to allow the felling of trees in the forest reserves of Gua Musang. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, March 10, 2018.
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