Jeyakumar disputed the claims by
saying that the use of Section 425 of the National Land Code was
inappropriate in this instance, as it covers the occupation of state
land without permission from the appropriate authorities. "We
disagree with this claim because Section 425 can only be used against
trespassers who do not have permission to use government land.
"The
farmers have established themselves in this area dating back to 70
years ago and were allowed by the colonial administration and also by
the Malaysian government until two weeks ago. Therefore, we have
‘implied consent’,” he explained in a statement.
"We are here with the knowledge and permission of the administrator.
Kanthan farmers have been given help by the Department of Agriculture in
the form of fertilisers before and the Perak State Development
Corporation (PKNP) once offered a lease for the land we worked on in
2012.
"This means that they know we are indeed based here and at
that time they wanted to maintain our presence here, so the use of
Section 425 against us is lawfully wrong," said the former Sungai Siput
MP. He also mentioned that Section 425 does not give the right for
the Perak Land and Mines Office (PTG) to trespass into farmlands, push,
injure people and destroy plants.
"Such actions are more the
behaviour of gangs, not a prudent administration that respects the
people and the laws of the country," he added.
Unsuitable for cultivation
Jeyakumar also
questioned the claim that the state government was committed to a Food
Security Action Plan in an effort to make the state the hub of national
food production.
"In relation to the ‘Food Security Action Plan’
mentioned by the Perak MB (Saarani Mohamad), is he aware that less than
30 percent of the area in the six areas of Permanent Food Production
Parks (TKPM) created in Perak since 2010 are being cultivated?
"And
more than 50 percent of the cultivated area is planted with palm oil
instead of vegetables. The six TKPM areas that were created are not a
substitute for the Kanthan area that supplies 60 tonnes of vegetables
every day," he said.
He went on to challenge the account that the
state government through the Perak State Development Corporation (PKNP)
had provided an alternative site in Changkat Kinding that had been
gazetted as an agricultural zone, in an attempt to resolve the
11-year-old issue. "It is true that a group of farmers from the
‘C’ area in Kanthan were taken to visit the resettlement site in Kampung
Kolam, Changkat Kinding, in May 2021.
"This site was identified
and developed without involving the farmers in the process of
determining the replacement site or getting the opinion of the farmers
regarding the suitability of the site for vegetable cultivation.
"When
the C area farmers were taken for a site visit, they found that the
area was hilly and there was no sufficient water source for vegetable
cultivation,” Jeyakumar continued in the statement.
JazliSalleh : Madani concept is supposed to be all inclusive and even help the downtrodden and in this case the poor farmers. You can't shout out slogans but do the exact opposite. What a sad situation for the poor?
Koel : Perak MB, this suggests that you have lied about this case. Worse still, the article suggests that you are ignorant about the decreasing amount of land available for growing food in your state. It also suggests that you have hidden the facts about the nature of the land where these farmers were legitimately growing food crops and even getting help from Dept of Agriculture.
