A DURIAN plantation in Kelantan has said it is the victim of the Orang Asli blockade in Gua Musang and are seeking the government’s help to resolve the blockade issue.

M7 Plantation Bhd, which owns the plantation that Orang Asli activists claimed sits on native land, urged the authorities to resolve the matter of the illegal blockade on a road leading up to its worksite.

“We appeal to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to uphold the rule of law, which he has repeatedly promised after taking office in May this year,” M7 Plantation said in a statement today. 

“We urge all sections of the government to abide by this promise.

“We appeal to the police to uphold this rule of law by ensuring freedom of travel on public roads and freedom of access to our land.

“The company seeks equal protection under the law.” 

The Malaysian Insight had reported that the Orang Asli group had maintained the blockade on the road leading up to the plantation in recent months in a bid to stop plantation operations.

On August 2, the blockade received strong backing from Deputy Rural and Regional Development Minister Sivarasa Rasiah, who said it was the community’s right to protect their land.

He had also promised that any physical threats to the activists would be dealt with by the authorities.

M7 Plantation said it had abided by all land laws in the process of developing the plantation and denied using force to dismantle the blockade on August 4. 

“We deny this unfounded allegation, which is also highly defamatory.

“The record shows that we have used alternate routes at higher cost and risk to avoid the blockade.”

M7 Plantation said the illegal blockade was not on the company’s worksite but on a public road leading to it, which also affects other road users.

“The company is a legitimate business running a modern durian farm and is not involved nor is a party to whatever disagreements exist between the various state or federal departments or agencies.

“The company is not involved in any dispute with Orang Asli on their land rights nor is there any pending legal matter affecting the company nor its worksite.”

It called on all parties to resolve the matter through dialogue before resorting to taking the case to court.

The company also said it needed protection as young durian trees are valuable and needed constant surveillance, such as with CCTVs.

M7 Plantation also justified its need for a helipad, saying its directors and partners sometimes used helicopters to make quick trips to the site.

Travelling by road from Kuala Lumpur to Gua Musang takes up to six or seven hours. – August 9, 2018.