LOGGERS have put up their own blockade to counter the one by Temiar Orang Asli in an ongoing fight over land in Kg Sg Papan in Perak.

Orang Asli spokesman Anjang Aleuj said the loggers have put up their own blockade after trying to dismantle the one put up by the natives.

The Temiar people in the area said their ancestral land now known as Kg Ong Kansel that spans 6,8097ha has been subject to logging without their permission.

They have put up the blockade since April to stop loggers from going into their ancestral land.

So far, the loggers have demolished four of their blockades.

“They (the loggers) came in this morning again to take down our blockade.

“And now, they are putting up their own blockade, and a ‘no entry’ sign to stop us from entering the area,” he told The Malaysian Insight today.

Yesterday, three Temiar Orang Asli were arrested after the police demolished the tribe’s blockade in Kg Sg Papan.

They were released later in the day after their statements were taken.

Ajang questioned why the trio were handcuffed when they were arrested yesterday.

“What wrong did we do? Why do they have to handcuff them?

“Our people were arrested for defending our rights, our land.”

The Perak Forestry Department, in a meeting with the Orang Asli last Friday, told them the loggers have the permits required to fell trees in the area.

However, yesterday Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P. Waytha Moorthy said permits by state governments to loggers are considered illegal until the legal boundaries of land claimed by Orang Asli are fixed.

He also expressed frustration at the lack of understanding by the respective menteri besar, the forestry department and police on court decisions, protecting the rights of indigenous people to their customary lands. – July 21, 2019.