IPOH: Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu has ordered a temporary halt to all logging activities near the Orang Asli settlement in Kampung Cunex with immediate effect.
In a joint press statement with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P. Waytha Moorthy, it was announced that the decision was made pending a discussion between the state government and the Orang Asli community.
“A meeting was held yesterday (Wednesday) between Ahmad Faizal Azumu and Waytha in the presence of the attorney-general to discuss the Kampung Cunex Orang Asli issue.
“Both the federal and state governments are committed to achieving a fair and just solution to protect the interests of the Orang Asli community in that area,” read the joint statement.
It said the federal and state governments would work together to resolve issues regarding the Orang Asli community.
Earlier, police conducted checks on a female foreign photojournalist for allegedly covering the Kampung Sungai Papan logging blockade issue in Gerik on Thursday morning.
Alexandra Radu, who is based in Kuala Lumpur, was believed to be filming a documentary on the struggles of the Orang Asli there to keep their customary lands from loggers.
She was scheduled to take photographs and interview the Orang Asli community, with the documentary meant for The Diplomat, a United States-based current affairs magazine and website covering issues pertaining to the Asia Pacific region.
Gerik district police chief Ismail Che Isa said the logging company had dismantled the blockades and Ranu was there to cover the issue.
It was reported recently that three Orang Asli were arrested during an operation to take down the blockade near a logging site in Kampung Sungai Papan on July 26.
The three Orang Asli, aged between 20 and 40, are expected to be charged under Section 341 of the Penal Code for “wrongful restraint”.
On July 26, several Orang Asli from the same settlement were also arrested by the police for building a blockade at the entrance of the logging area. However the trio, aged between 22 and 38, were picked up for documentation and were released with no conditions on the same day.
The Orang Asli community there claimed that the 42ha plot of land, where logging activities were taking place was their ancestral land.
Following this, the logging company had lodged a police report and dismantled the blockades after receiving the green light from the authorities.
The Perak Forestry Department, in a press statement recently, said the logging company had a logging permit while the blockade area which was set up by them belonged to Felda.