Deputy Domestic, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Tan Lian Hoe said the serene and unpolluted environment at their settlements made them suitable for the purpose.

“The ministry is willing to help the community achieve that target and we hope cooperative members from the orang asli will make it a reality,” she told The Star after visiting a free-range chicken rearing project at Kampung Sungai Raba, RPS Banun, about 60km from here yesterday.

She said the RPS Banun Cooperative, one of the eight Orang Asli cooperatives in Perak, would become the pioneer in the project, to be followed later by other orang asli cooperatives.

“We have donated 1,000 chicks to the cooperative to kick-start the project.”

Ms Tan added that the orang asli cooperatives could secure contracts to supply free-range chicken to hypermarkets in the country once they managed to mass produce the chickens.

“We hope one day they will be able to supply the chicken to the international market,” she said.