KULIM: More than 2,000 villagers of Kampung Padang Ubi, Kampung Patong and Kampung Petani near here are concerned by the increasing presence of pests and wild animals, which are damaging their crops.
They are also worried by the recent case of two siblings who accidentally ingested bait laced with rat poison at a nearby orchard.
Village Chief Council chairman Inche Borhan Ahmad, 57, said many villagers had acted on their own in repelling pests and wild animals, which included rats, monkeys and wild boars.
He said the poisoning of the two siblings aged 2 and 3 should be serious enough for the authorities to act.
He said the increase of wild animals had been seen for the past eight months, and the village committees had lodged complaints with the relevant authorities, including the Agriculture Department and the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan).
However, Borhan claimed that the authorities had yet to take action.
In addition to the three villages, he said wild animals were also destroying crops in two other villages nearby, namely Kampung Bikan and Kampung Bikan Atas.
Former Kampung Bikan Village Development and Security Committee member Fadhil Bidin also said that the problem had been going on for a long time, with visible damage to the villagers' oil palm and rubber plantations.
Earlier, it was reported that two siblings, Muhammad Akil Syauqi, 3, and Muhammad Luth Syauqi, 2, were admitted to Penang Hospital in critical condition after eating crackers hung on the fence of an orchard, which were believed to be laced with rat poison.
The snack packets were reportedly placed by the orchard owner to kill rats that were damaging his crops.