A group of Orang Asli from Gua Musang, Kelantan, today lodged a report with the Enforcement Agencies Integrity Commission (EAIC) over the arrest of 54 individuals by the state Forestry Department and the police's General Operations Force.

According to the Kelantan Orang Asli Villages Network chairperson Azmi Badun, the report was lodged based on alleged abuse of powers by the two agencies in arresting 54 Orang Asli at several blockades in the interiors of Gua Musang.

Azmi claimed that the alleged abuses had also occurred prior to and after the Nov 30 arrest, including in the application for a two-day remand order against those arrested.

“They (Kelantan Forestry Department) had abused their powers in dismantling the blockades and traditional structures at Simpang Petei, Kampung Parik and Simpang Pos Tohoi on Nov 29 and Dec 1.

“They also abused their powers by setting up barricades to prevent entry of civilians, activists, lawyers and the media to Orang Asli villages beyond the blockades, since Oct 11,” he said during a press conference at the lobby of EAIC’s headquarters in Putrajaya.

Also present were 10 Orang Asli from Gua Musang, accompanied by Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s Orang Asli bureau coordinator Suresh Kumar.

The report was received by EAIC’s operations director (complaints and investigation) Muhammad Bukhari Ab Hamid.

Azmi claimed the Kelantan Forestry Department and and General Operations Force abused their powers when they invoked Section 32(1) of the National Forestry Act 1984.

Section 32(1) states that subject to subsection (3) no person shall occupy or carry out any activity upon any land within a permanent reserved forest, unless he is the holder of a use permit.

The section was used to arrest 54 Orang Asli last week in a bid to end three blockades they set up against loggers.

Azmi said the section cannot be applied to the Orang Asli community who inhabit the area as they fall under the Aboriginal People's Act 1954.

In response, Azmi said the Orang Asli community will more than double the anti-logging blockades.

"We will put them up again. We have already rebuilt the three and this time we'll make it seven," he said.

"Even if they (Kelantan Forestry Department) comes in and dismantle them, we will keep rebuilding.

"We are not constructing them on other people's land. We are building them on our own land to defend our rights," he said.

Also present was Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (Peka) secretary-general Bazlinda Bahrin.

Last week, the Kelantan Forestry Department, aided by the General Operations Force, moved in on the blockades and forcibly dismantled them.

Prior to that, the Kelantan government had demanded the Orang Asli community to end the blockade.

The Kelantan government insisted that the logging was a legitimate activity and an important source of income for the state government.

However, the Orang Asli claimed the loggers have encroached on their ancestral land which the Kelantan government does not recognise.