Speaking to FMT today, the department’s director, Mohamed Zin Yusop, said his officers were there only to meet Orang Asli and to clarify that the logging had been approved by the state government.

“The (state Forestry Department) never threatened the Orang Asli there.

“On the contrary, we only gave an explanation about the ongoing logging there,” he said.

Zin also rubbished the claim that the Forestry Department and the Perak state government had encroached onto customary land of the Orang Asli, adding no forest reserves in the state were customary lands.

“The area they claim is the Air Chepam Forest Reserve and not the Orang Asli customary land,” he said.

Villagers in Kampung Tasik Cunex Grik had claimed that a logging company brought in some machinery on Dec 19 last year and damaged pipes that supplied water to some 50 villagers in the Tasik Cunex area.

They told FMT that in January, they complained to the state government and the menteri besar about the matter but no action was taken.

A representative of the community, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said when the illegal logging began, they ramped up their protest.

“We protested, and when we were ignored, we set up the blockade.

“On Jan 31, a spokesperson for the logging company and a representative of the Perak Forestry Department said they will not hesitate to employ rough tactics if we prevent them from logging.”

FMT understands a police report has been lodged over the matter.

Meanwhile, Zin said that the state follows the annual cut ration (CTT) set by the National Land Council for logging, which amounts to 7,744ha a year.

Commenting on Petubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (Peka) president Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil’s earlier claim that logging is rampant in Perak, Zin said this allegation was baseless.

This comes barely a month after Putrajaya sued the Kelantan government for a similar alleged infraction of Orang Asli land rights.

Shariffa Sabrina had urged Putrajaya to also sue Perak for the same offence.