Gerik Orang Asli to gov't: 'We don't want Kuala Koh to happen to us.'

A group of 40 Orang Asli from Gerik, Perak will hand a memorandum to the government in parliament tomorrow to urge them to prevent what has happened in Kuala Koh, Terengganu from happening to them.

"Many people, including the Orang Asli themselves, believe the reason why the Kuala Koh tragedy happened is because of the degradation of the environment there.

"For them (the Gerik Orang Asli), all this hits close to home because those are the exact issues they are facing.

"Kuala Koh could be their future if the logging doesn't stop," said Center for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC) representative Lili Li to Malaysiakini today.

The Orang Asli, coming from Kampung Tasek Cunex, Kampung Sg Papan, Kampung Leyef, Kampung Ong Jelmol and Pos Piah, were invited by Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin (below) to visit parliament tomorrow, she said.

Aside from Yeo, they were also supposed to meet with Minister in the Prime Minister's Department P Waytha Moorthy, but he could not make it and will be sending his special officer instead. Lili said the Orang Asli Development Department director-general Juli Edo will also be present at the meeting.

Since the Orang Asli were invited to go to parliament tomorrow, she said they are taking this opportunity to highlight issues plaguing them such as logging, mining, health and forced Islamisation.

For example, she said, the people of Kampung Tasek Cunex have been manning a blockade this year against logging activities on their ancestral land.

The 40 Orang Asli visiting parliament tomorrow range from those who are 16 years old to 60 years old, she said.

The COAC is coordinating this visit, along with Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (Joas), Lili added.

The Bateq tribe at Kuala Koh came under the spotlight after 15 people died recently, with the Health Ministry confirming that three of the deaths were caused by measles, a preventable disease.

The post-mortem on the other 12 bodies was inconclusive.

The measles disease affected more than half of the village's population of 185.

The Health Ministry later found that the villagers were suffering from malnourishment and had not been vaccinated. - Mkini