Villagers and grassroots activists are living in fear following incidents of harassment, assault, and death threats which they claim is related to their opposition to a quarrying project in the Gunung Jerai Forest Reserve in Yan, Kedah.

Villagers living around Bukit Singkir in the forest reserve alleged that there are efforts to harass them into desisting from their activities against the quarry, which they have blamed for destroying the surrounding environment and affecting their livelihood and welfare.

Last Friday, Azizan Osman - one of the leaders of the Singkir action-committee protesting the quarrying project - was assaulted by two men in front of a secondary school in Sungai Petani.

The assailants dragged Azizan out of the car and punched him repeatedly in the face. The men then fled in a Perodua Kancil which had no registration plate.

"Azizan was hurt badly - his face was bruised, requiring stitches to his left temple," said environmental group Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) coordinator MS Anuar Mahmud when contacted.

"We want the authorities to investigate and tackle this immediately before it leads to more serious incidents," he added.

'Next time, it will be a bullet'

The following day, SAM coordinator Mohd Nizam Mahshar received a death threat.

"The incident in Sungai Petani was the first warning. This is the second warning. The next time, it will be a bullet," Nizam recounted the message conveyed to him through the SAM activist who received the call.

Nizam said the villagers and activists believe that the threats and harassment were connected to the quarrying project, as other SAM activists had been targetted previously over the issue.

He was referring to death threats last year which targetted SAM assistant-secretary Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid and secretary of another environmental group Angkatan Sahabat Alam Sekitar, Abdul Aziz Man, and the RM40,000 bribe that had been offered to Anuar.

Nizam said although the villagers are scared, they are not deterred from struggling for what they believe is their right to protest against the quarrying project.

"Morale is still high. We will all continue to struggle and assist the community," he stressed.

Last December, the Alor Setar High Court struck out an application from the villagers for a declaration that the quarrying project had contravened federal, state and local laws and had adversely affected their lives.

They are appealing against the decision and have also filed for a judicial review of the decisions by the state government and various state agencies to grant approvals for the quarrying project.