MUAR: Some 50 fishermen in Parit Unas fishing village here are unhappy that about 20ha of coastal land at its estuary allocated to 20 fishermen more than 10 years ago to breed siput (snails) have yet to be cultivated.
The site which sits on a mudflat and is covered by mangrove trees is considered the best location for siput cultivation.
Fisherman Er Siow Leong, 46, said local fishermen needed the land to breed siput to complement poor catch at sea.
He said the coastal land had already been allocated to other fishermen.
Parit Unas fishing village chairman Tan Peng Keng, 75, said he concurred with Er that the land should be allocated to needy fishermen to stabilise fishing industry and country's economy.
Fisherman Mansor Ali, 61, also regretted that the land at Parit Unas was allocated to fishermen from neighbouring fishing villages.
Muar Fishermen Association chairman Zainal Abdul Jalil called on the government to repossess the land if not cultivated within five years and distributed to those who needed it.
He said those fishermen who were allocated the land were also given seeding.
"The government should not hesitate to take back the land " he said at Parit Unas here yesterday.
He said the association had conducted an in-depth study and found a stretch of about three nautical miles of coastal land from Parit Unas to Parit Jawa was the most suitable for the breeding of siput, cockles and kupang (mussels).
Zainal said if the land was properly cultivated, it would become a leading production and export centre for the marine food.
He claimed many food connoisseurs from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and northern states of the Peninsular Malaysia came to Parit Sakai, near Parit Unas, for the seafood.
Zainal called on the Land Office to set aside more coastal land to enable fishermen to earn a side-income.