An Orang Asli NGO has slammed the Kelantan government's inaction and various responses to the Temiar anti-logging blockades as "insincere" and "dishonest".

"We are terribly regretful that the attitude of the state government appears to be insincere in solving the (logging) scandal from day one of the blockade until today.

"In fact, the deputy menteri besar claimed the Temiar had been instigated by certain parties.

"We see this comment as dishonest and an attempt to wash his hands and just avoid the issue," said Persatuan Pembangunan Orang Asli Malaysia (Moada) president Bob Manolan Mohamad in a statement.

He said his group has visited the blockade in Simpang Petey in Gua Musang, Kelantan, set up by the local Temiar people to prevent destruction of their ancestral lands by loggers.

"As many as 23 villages are affected by logging activities taking place in the Temiar native customary rights (NCR) land," said Manolan.

Furthermore, activists and Temiar have complained that the forests, on which the people rely for their subsistence living, is being systematically destroyed and their water sources polluted.

Earlier this month Sinar Harian reported deputy menteri besar Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah downplaying the blockade and blaming outsiders.

“A misunderstanding may have occurred due to incitement from various parties which caused the Orang Asli to react and claim their territory was invaded,” he was reported saying in Kota Bharu on Oct 5 after the state's exco meeting.

Manolan said the Temiar's claims and objections to the logging had solid grounds.

"They have been living in the Gua Musang area since the time before non-Temiar communities moved in.

"But this is not an issue of claiming their rights or denying others of theirs, but not to let their rights to the place and their lives not to be disrupted," he said.

The land is their "supermarket", said Manolan, on which they obtain their basic needs like food and water.

The Temiar's water supply depends entirely on the river, he said, which is now completely polluted and unfit even for washing, not to mention for drinking.

Gua Musang MP rapped

Manolan also ticked Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah off for saying the Kelantan government shouldn't be faulted as the state has no money and its income depended on logging.

"Is the state's finances totally dependent on logging, and do they have to do it in the Orang Asli's NCR land?" he asked.

"Timber is provided by God – just anyone can become the state government by just relying on timber as their source of revenue," he said.

The activist urged the state government to immediately hold talks with the Orang Asli inhabitants to solve the crisis as soon as possible.

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