Farmers angered as farms are bulldozed
Pakatan promised to help us resolve land issues, say villagers
BIDOR: Hope turned to despair for about 60 farmers in Kampung Baru Kuala Bikam here when a sand mining company started to bulldoze their farmland yesterday.
It was only two days ago when their Sungkai assemblyman A. Sivanesan from DAP was preparing to get the state exco to help the farmers.
At least 76.9ha of land with fruit trees such as mango and guava, vegeta
bles and oil palm were affect
ed.
“Sivanesan told us that he would raise our plight during the state exco meeting on Wednesday and get help for us.
“When we called Sivanesan today to inform him that the workers have started to bulldoze our farms, he said he is in Bagan Datuk and then cut the line,” farmer Poh Wai Sheng, 22, told The Star, adding that farmers have also lodged a police report on the bulldozing at the police station here yesterday.
According to Poh, a spokesman for the farmers, Pakatan Harapan had assured they would help them with the land issues during the 14th General Election campaign.
The farmers, he added, had been told that a sand mining company has been eyeing the farmland in the village for mining activities over a period of seven years.
“Yesterday, the kepala (chief ) who bulldozed the farms told the farmers that Sivanesan said they can go ahead with the mining,” Poh said.
He said the farmers were worried when they saw people measuring their farmland on June 1.
According to him, a representative from the sand mining company told the farmers that they were issued the mining licence on June 20.