THE federal government will start talks with the Kelantan administration to resolve Orang Asli claims to their tribal lands, said deputy minister Sivarasa Rasiah.

Orang Asli representatives will also be included in the talks, he said, which are aimed at resolving long-standing conflicts between the community, the PAS-ruled state and private companies.

Sivarasa, who is deputy rural and regional development minister, said the talks will map out the boundaries of customary land claimed by the state’s tribes.

Once these boundaries are agreed upon between the federal and state governments and the Orang Asli, they will be gazetted so that they can be enforced.

“Their right to their customary land has been acknowledged, there is no dispute about that. Our courts have ruled in favour of this many times.

“What remains is to map and negotiate where these lands are and their boundaries. Once they are gazetted we can end encroachment,” said Sivarasa told the media after a visit to two logging blockades by the Orang Asli.

The lack of a legal gazette of the community’s customary lands are the reason behind the Orang Asli blockades throughout Kelantan against loggers and plantation companies.

Orang Asli activists claimed that these firms have violated their communal forests, which are a source of food, medicine, clean water and are integral to the community’s sense of identity.

Their blockades are a last resort after their protests against these activities were ignored by the companies and the Kelantan government.

These blockades have also led to tense confrontations between the Orang Asli manning them and the loggers and planters.

“We have to go step by step,” said Sivarasa, when asked about how the government will deal with loggers and planters which have already encroached on Orang Asli land.

“We have the process of negotiating on the location, size and boundaries of customary land. After this is done, we can talk about the second issue, which is encroachment.”

He, however, declined to say whether the federal government will instruct loggers and planters operating on land contested by the Orang Asli to halt operations.

“It’s complicated. There are powers under the state and at the federal level. So we have to work within the structures that we have.”

He, however, supported the community’s right to continue their blockade. – August 2, 2018.