Cops to probe orang asli-logger clash

KUALA LUMPUR: Kelantan police are investigating both the orang asli and the loggers involved in Wednesday’s violent clash.

State police chief Datuk Dr Ab Rahman Ismail said both parties had lodged a police report following the incident and said the commotion was being looked into.

Police have also lodged a report over the incident following claims that men dressed in police vests were also involved in the confron­tation.

As the blockade by orang asli groups continues in Pos Tohoi and Pos Simpor,  Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) lambasted its former Pakatan Rakyat ally over its handling of the indigenous people’s land rights.

PSM’s orang asli bureau coordinator Suresh Kumar questioned the state’s complicity that led to the violent stand on Monday.

Men, purported to be police officers accompanied loggers in unmarked cars and chased off orang asli protesters with chainsaws and also reportedly fired a shot during the clash.

He also highlighted that the Peninsular Malaysia Orang Asli Villages Network (JKOASM) had handed a memorandum to Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yaakob in March to explain their claim to their ancestral land.

In Kota Baru, the Kelantan Loggers Association (PPK) has denied allegations that it had carried out forest clearing activities in the Balah Permanent Forest Reserve in Gua Musang and bullied the orang asli who were living in that area.

Its president P.K. Lim said Kelantan Timber Complex Sdn Bhd had been granted a concession to carry out logging activities in the forest legally and it had complied with the prescribed conditions.

He said the commotion involving loggers and a group of orang asli that occurred on Wednesday was due to the integrated operation carried out by PPK, together with the Kelantan Forestry Department, the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Lim also claimed that the blockade issue had been going on for six months resulting in the logging companies not able to transport the logs out of the forest area.