KUALA LUMPUR: Small farmers in Cameron Highlands who are evicted from their farms can seek help from the state for resettlement purposes, said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
He said the Federal government, through the Cameron Highlands Action Council Committee chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, has been working with Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob to help them.
New settlements will be set up to relocate small farmers who are evicted in the first place because they do not have TOL (temporary occupation licence).
Access to basic facilities such as water, road and electricity will be provided at these settlements, to be planned by the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, he added.
The small farmers had been evicted during "Ops Gading”, a joint operation led by the National Security Council (NSC) to curb illegal farming and land encroachment.
The operation was launched in Dec 2014 following mud floods that devastated the agriculture town of Bertam Valley.
“It is intended to crack down on large-scale commercial farmers who occupy vast amounts of land with labour provided by illegal foreign workers.
"Some of the illegal foreign workers even ventured to set up farms on their own,” said Wan Junaidi.
He was replying a question from Fuziah Salleh (PKR-Kuantan) who wanted to know the solution for small farmers who had been evicted for occupying state land without permission.
Fuziah said when they tried to apply for land to resettle, they were told by the District Office that there was no more land available for farming.
Wan Junaidi said Fuziah can help them by submitting a name list to the Menteri Besar.
At the same time, he said the Bertam river widening project is almost ready and will increase the water capacity by six times.
“This will help to avert flood in Bertam Valley as we want to save the place.
“The government takes note of the farmers’ contribution and we will always consider their needs,” he said.
The Bertam Valley project, which is carried out at a cost of RM 30.8 million, will widen as well deepen the river by up to 200,000 square metres, benefiting some 3,000 people.