Tasek Bera operation turns tense as five Orang Asli arrested, officer kicks incense pot

 

Tensions flared between Orang Asli residents and enforcement officers during an operation at the Tasek Bera Conservation Forest Reserve in Pahang, while a video showing Forestry Department (UPNP) personnel kicking a traditional incense-burning pot on the ground also drew criticism.

Bera police chief Zulkiflee Nazir said five Orang Asli were detained for allegedly obstructing enforcement officers during yesterday morning’s operation targeting oil palm and rubber cultivation.

The operation, carried out under the National Forestry Act 1984, involved the Pahang State Enforcement Unit, UPNP, Bera District and Land Office, General Operations Force and Wildlife and National Parks Department.

According to Zulkiflee, a group had erected an obstruction and allegedly provoked officers carrying out their duties, with social media posts identifying the location as the Orang Asli settlement of Kampung Pathir.

“Following this, police arrested a man and four women aged in their 30s to 60s to assist in investigations under Section 186 of the Penal Code,” he said.

A video of the confrontation subsequently circulated on social media.

In one video, a uniformed police officer is heard saying, "You can be arrested for this (obstruction)." He is also seen instructing that the burning incense pot be removed before the UPNP officer kicks it to the side of the road, despite the Orang Asli telling him not to do so.

In the background, a voice can be heard remarking: “You dare to step across the incense. Go ahead, kick it (the pot), you will die tomorrow.”

Some posts described those arrested as residents defending their customary land.

However, Zulkiflee cautioned the public against spreading unverified or false information that could cause misunderstanding and disrupt public order.

Month-long operation

The arrests came amid a month-long integrated operation launched on Monday, targeting areas the authorities classify as illegal encroachment into the forest reserve.

Pahang Forestry Department chief assistant director for enforcement Mustakim Semail said the operation involved more than 70 personnel divided into three teams.

He said authorities were targeting forest-reserve land cultivated with oil palm and rubber, including established farms already producing crops.

“The operation also uses drones from the Pahang State Enforcement Unit to identify encroached locations in several areas around Tasek Bera.

“Surveillance found areas that had been cultivated for a long time, as well as newly cleared areas where the forest was burned,” ImedikelTV quoted him as saying.

Mustakim said officers had to cut through a metal barrier erected to prevent access to one of the cultivated areas.

However, Orang Asli residents and their supporters maintain that the affected areas form part of the Semelai community’s customary territory and were being mapped for takeover without their consent.

Tasek Bera, Malaysia’s first Ramsar wetland, was designated a wetland of international importance in 1994 and is also gazetted as a permanent forest reserve.

The lake and its surrounding forests are traditionally associated with the Semelai, who have lived in the Bera catchment for generations and depend on the area for farming, fishing and forest produce. - Mkini