Four villages inhabited by a Semai community of Orang Asli in Sungkai, Perak, are taking proactive measures to prevent loggers from entering their ancestral land to carry out any further work, which they say has polluted the environment and harmed their sources of livelihood.

The villagers also alleged that their religious and cultural beliefs have been trampled on by loggers who have not spared sacred sites such as "graves and holy rocks".

In a report submitted on Nov 12 to the Sungkai police chief, 330 villagers of Kampung Rancangan Pengumpulan Semula in Jernang (RPS Jernang) said that "as long as the party involved in this issue does not give a response in black and white (to our grievances), we will not allow the loggers to enter."

"We request your cooperation in monitoring the activities of the loggers as one way of preventing any untoward incidents, such as a clash, from occuring should the loggers remain adamant in entering our ancestral land despite being forbidden from doing so," they added.

Mat Epen Yoksenggah, one of RPS Jernang's leaders, said the villagers confronted the loggers as they entered their land and this has on occassion led to heated exchanges.

Despite the risks that such confrontations pose, Epen said the villagers have been forced to such measures because letters sent earlier to several federal and state agencies had not produced any efforts to protect their interests.

"Even the Sungkai police chief who had met with us three days after we had filed the report said he could not do anything as the loggers are licensed to carry out their operations.

"We told him that if that was his position, then the villagers will continue to stand their ground to prevent any more logging, because this is our land and the land of our ancestors," he said when contacted today.

"Do they think we are so stupid as to stand idly by while these loggers carry away the products of the forests and mountains, as they push aside our graves and crush our sacred stones. From the 26 years of logging, we've gotten nothing but sicknesses (from the polluted rivers)," he added.

Verbal directive

In a discussion between villagers, the police and the loggers, on Nov 15, the police gave a verbal directive that the loggers must complete their operations within three months.

"We don't know if that is merely an empty promise or not," said Epen.

He said residents of Tidong, Ras, Kejau, and Sat villages who signed the police report had earlier written a 'protest letter' listing their grievances to the Orang Asli Affairs Department (JHEOA) head Nordin Mie and chief district officer of the state's forestry department overlooking southern Perak Salim Ali.

Copies of the letters were also sent to the state environmental department, state forestry department, the Rural Development Ministry, the state government's executive council, and various other non-governmental agencies.

Health problems

According to activist Rizuan Tempek of Orang Asli advocacy group Sinuai Pai Nanek Sengik, "officials, such as from the forestry department who came with a representative from the logging company to meet with the villagers, seem to side with the loggers and speak on their behalf."

"The villagers say the logging activities, which began in 1978, have affected their health and livelihood as the rivers of RPS Jernang, which used to be clean and abundant in fish, frogs and turtles and other sources of food, are now polluted and uninhabitable except for small fishes," he said.

"There aren't many fishes, frogs and turtles any more. The small fishes that are caught exude a 'muddy' smell," he added.

The rivers, water from which the villagers used for drinking, bathing and washing purposes, have become so muddy and polluted that it was no longer suitable for everyday use, alleged Rizuan.

"Continual use of water from the river has led to many villagers experiencing health problems such as skin irritations and eyesight problems. At least one villager has been said to have lost his ability to see completely as a result of the polluted river."

Rizuan said that wood and plant resources on which the Semai villagers had long depended on for everyday needs, for housing, traditional and ceremonial purposes, as well as cash commodities, were also becoming sparse as a result of the logging.

Last year, another community of Semai Orang Asli in Perak were threatened with eviction following moves by the state government and a plantation company led by former minister Megat Junid Megat Ayub to plant fruit trees on the Orang Asli's ancestral land.

As a result of protests from the Kampung Chang Sungai Gepai community, however, the state government announced that the development plans were shelved and have since been placed in cold storage.