Pos Bihai village headman Awin Pedik, 64, accompanied by officials of the Department of Orang Asli Development, handed over a memorandum to Mahathir’s political secretary Abu Bakar Yahya.
He said he had wanted to meet Mahathir to talk about the security and peace at his village, which he claimed has been disrupted by the blockades and certain quarters who were trying to provoke the tribe.
“We are the headmen. We want everything to be cleared out. We are on the side of the plantation. We want peace and security in the villages.
“We want a normal way of life. No blockades. We want people to be able to come to work easily in the plantation,” he told reporters outside the Prime Minister’s Office.
His visit came a week after some 200 Orang Asli from 17 settlements in Gua Musang met Mahathir to seek his help to resolve the issue of encroachment by logging and agricultural firms.
The Orang Asli had erected barricades to keep out workers from the firms. The most recent blockade was mounted two Saturdays ago.
Asked why he did not come with the group last week, Awin said that as a leader, he did not need to come with them.
“I do not want to show like we are forcing the government. I want law and order to be implemented. It is not nice to bring such a large group to meet the prime minister,” he said.
Awin claimed the blockade was instigated by NGOs with vested interests, and it happened without the headmen’s support.
“In our tradition and culture, everything must go through the proper channel, through the village headmen.
“I have personally appealed to the NGOs to not interfere with the Orang Asli, and to let the headmen do it. The problem is, the Orang Asli villagers are not listening to us because of the NGOs,” he said, adding that the NGOs were also giving food to the villagers and paying for their petrol.
Awin noted that while he supported the motive, blockades were not the right thing to do.
“That is not the way. The Temiar tribe, they are non-violent people. But why are they now being taught to be violent?” he asked.
He said to date, no one from the NGOs had visited him or extended assistance to his people.
“Why only certain groups and places? Why not the whole area? Why not go through the Department for Orang Asli Development?
“If it is a good thing, why not? Why need to hide?” he asked.
The plantation there, Awin pointed out, had become a source of income for the villagers, who are very thankful to be able to work there.
On whether the logging and plantation companies carrying out projects there had attacked or disturbed the villagers, Awin said there was no such thing.
“The villagers come to work in the fields to earn money, so that they can buy goods. There is no chaos and no fighting.
“They earn money and they are happy. I have also interviewed some workers in the plantation. There are no complaints,” he said.
On his view of how many villagers were in agreement with him to not carry out a blockade, Awin said the silent majority agreed with him, but those at the forefront were incited by certain groups.
“In Kelantan we have 15,000 Orang Asli. Those who are in favour of a blockade do not even make up 10%.
“They are young people and emotional. They do not know anything. They like to use the media to sensationalise the news.
“They are the new generation. They do not know the culture. I’m the village headman so I know. They are being used by outsiders,” he said.
Awin also said there was no such thing as customary land, and that in their culture, they only had heritage land.
“Kelantan has heritage land, not customary land. The meaning is that, back then, we had virgin forests. Our forefathers cut the trees down and we planted tapioca, maize and padi. After that, the land became ours, because we planted the crops,” he added.