CONTRACT workers destroyed an Orang Asli blockade over the weekend as it affected their income from plantations approved by local tribes in Gua Musang, Kelantan, an official told The Malaysian Insight. 

A spokesman for two of the companies said that their operations were legal. They had approvals from the Kelantan government and the support of Orang Asli elders in the surrounding kampung.

The spokesman, Hanif Abdul Kudus, said the firms have support letters signed by five Orang Asli tok batin and penghulu of the Temiar tribe, who are the chiefs of the respective kampung surrounding the plantations.

In return, the companies would prioritise the community for jobs in the plantations, Hanif said.

Hanif was speaking on behalf of KPG Maju Enterprise Sdn Bhd which owns 2,020ha of agricultural land near the Kuala Balah forest in Gua Musang.  

The company runs rubber and pineapple farms. A new company, M7 Plantations Berhad, is starting a musang king durian orchard in the same area.

Hanif claimed the backing from these chieftains allowed the plantations to operate unimpeded until February this year when a blockade put up by Temiar activists disrupted their operations. 

The firms started the plantations at the invitation of Awin Pedih, a tok batin (traditional chief) of Pos Tohoi, a kampung about one hour from the plantations, he said.

“Why would we start our plantations there in the first place, so far from any main road?” Hanif said. The plantations lie some three hours via dirt road from Kuala Betis.  

“It’s because I knew Awin from my time in a cooperative in Gua Musang. He asked me to develop the area around his community so that his people can earn an income.

“In fact, we helped build the Celcom tower and the main road going to the kampung and the plantations,” Hanif told The Malaysian Insight.

Community support

KPG Maju Enterprise Sdn Bhd and Fleet Precision Sdn Bhd are two companies Temiar activists named for opening plantations on what they said is customary land used for generations by the tribe.

Hanif said he was also a spokesman and consultant for Fleet Precision.

In February, a group of Temiar activists set up a blockade on the main road passing through the company’s plantations and the six kampung.

The blockades have severely disrupted the harvests and upkeep of the plantations, leading to several tense confrontations between the activists and men linked to the farms.

On Saturday, a group of chainsaw-wielding men destroyed the blockade, two days after it was visited by Deputy Minister Sivarasa Rasiah.

Sivarasa, who holds the rural and regional development portfolio, pledged to help resolve the stand-off between the planters and the activists.

The plantations lie on land logged in the 1980s and classified as agricultural land by the Kelantan government, he said.

In 2010, Fleet Precision managed to get five Temiar chiefs from five kampung to sign a letter saying they supported “the company’s operations in the Pos Simpor and Pos Tohoi areas”.

The letter, sighted by The Malaysian Insight, was signed by Seman Senaweng, Gorbon Garyon, Abong Lehya, Rahmat Abdullah and Anjang Akad, all of whom are penghulu.

The letter, however, did not specify the operations that would be carried out by the company.

Another letter was issued by the Kelantan and Terengganu Orang Asli affairs acting director Abdul Razak Arshad to confirm the first support letter.   

In another letter on March 13, 2013, three chieftains – Seman of Kg Jader, Abu Along (Kg Rekom) and Jumat Abak (village unspecified) – stated their support for a series of projects.

Hanif said these projects included building a mobile signal tower, a water supply system, widening the existing access road and a sundry shop for the kampung.   

The infrastructure projects were in addition to a timber latex clone plantation. The company also promised to provide employment opportunities for the community.  

“We employed Orang Asli from the community in all our plantations. We contributed to their economy. That’s why I don’t understand why they blocked us this year.” – August 7, 2018.