FARMERS in Raub, Pahang, began cultivating the land as early as the 1970s for various crops before durian became popular in the 1990s, said Tras assemblyman Chow Yi Hui.

Back in the 1970s, some of them had received permits from the Raub Land Office, which their descendants, who are second-generation farmers, hope will support their claim that they had permission to farm the land.

Chow told The Malaysian Insight durian farmers who have now banded together as the Save Musang King Alliance (Samka) to protest unfair terms in the Pahang government’s bid to legalise their illegal farms, had once been issued permits to produce crops in the area.

Chow said in the 1970s, Malaysia’s second prime minister Abdul Razak Hussien had introduced the Green Book Plan, which encouraged rural communities to plant vegetables and fruits on unused land to increase domestic food supply.

He said this in response to the Royal Pahang Durian Group (RPDG) consortium, which has claimed that durian farmers had practised the “grow-first-then-register” approach to their orchards instead of obtaining permits.

“These farmers do not practise the approach as claimed, but they had been given permits to plant and produce crops sometime in the 1970s. Some of these documents date back to 1976.

“Although not all, the majority of them back then were issued with permits by the land office,” Chow told The Malaysian Insight.

Samka is now insisting the farmers have tried to apply for permits for their durian farms over the years but have never been entertained.

They are protesting the terms of the scheme to “legalise” their illegal farms and to prevent land encroachment for durian farm expansions.

The scheme awards Royal Pahang Durian Resources PKPP Sdn Bhd the lease and land use rights for 2,168ha in the Raub district for a period of 30 years, plus another 30.

The company, a joint venture between RPDG and the state’s Pahang Agricultural Development Authority, was awarded the lease on June 24.

The company’s contract offered to the durian farmers include a RM6,000 levy per 0.4ha for this year, and to sell Grade A Musang King at a fixed rate of RM30 per kg to the company only for 2020 and 2021.

This is significantly lower than the average market price of RM45 per kg, while the levy imposed will mean a farmer with 4ha will have to pay rent of RM60,000 a year.

Samka members said they have been pressured into signing the contract with threats of legal action.

Although the permits issued by the land office in the 1970s have not been renewed, Chow said their existence proves the farmers did not occupy or encroach on the land illegally, and that they had been on the land as part of Razak’s Green Book Plan.

Chow showed The Malaysian Insight a permit and receipt from the land office in 1976 belonging to a farmer named Liong Kim Chee, whose younger brother Leong Kin Min, 63, is now continuing work on the farm by planting durian.

“My brother didn’t plant durian back then. They tried many crops and fruits, including lychee, banana, cocoa, but it was all short term. They started planting durian more than 20 years ago as they wanted something with long-term yields,” Leong told The Malaysian Insight.

Chow also showed a sketched map indicating areas of land allocated to the farmers in the area under the Green Book Plan.

“Raub farmers responded to the government’s call (then), and many of them pursued their careers as farmers with temporary occupation licences.

“However, the Pahang government now is not appreciating the efforts of these farmers who have made formal applications for the land,” Chow said.

He added there have been cases in Pahang where a farmer obtained a land grant from the government by “planting first, applying later”, so it was wrong for RPDG to accuse the durian farmers of doing the same.

Farmers with Samka have said they are willing to deal with the state government directly on legalising their farms, including to pay rent, levies and taxes at fairer rates. 

They just don’t want to deal with the company appointed to handle the matter because of its exorbitant and lopsided rates.

(LINK TO THE LEAD 2 STORY) 

Samka has appointed lawyers and plans to seek an injunction to stop the company and state government from taking any action against the farmers. – August 26, 2020.