URBAN farm Kebun-Kebun Bangsar wants the authorities to be part of its efforts to educate the public on the ecosystem, following the latest attempt by the Federal Territories Land and Mines Office (PTG) to evict the group running the farm on land under Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) power lines.

They said that the farm is a community service to help people grow their own crops, teach them on ways to improve biodiversity and to create awareness on the environment. 

The group managing the farm is imploring the authorities to allow them to continue cultivating the land after they were issued an eviction notice last week. 

The eviction notice came weeks after Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob praised the farm and its offshoot Kebun-Kebun Kerinchi for its work on World Environment Day, on June 5.

Kebun-Kebun Bangsar co-founder, Ng Sek San, said they will challenge the eviction notice. 

“We want the authorities to be part of this community service project and not be against it. 

“It is extremely difficult for us volunteers to do work when we don’t know what the future is because of the eviction order,” he told The Malaysian Insight today. 

Ng said Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), Federal Territory Land and Mines Office and Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) visited the site on June 20 and they were served the eviction notice three days later.

“Our main problem is there is one entitled resident from this area, who is complaining about our work.

“The problem is the authorities pandering to all these naysayers. We hope the authorities can look into our issues too.

“If all else fails we will look into getting an injunction for the eviction order.”

Violation of terms

Earlier today, the PTG said it had enforced action against the farm for violating the terms of its temporary occupation licence (TOL) for nurseries.

PTG director Muhammad Yasir Yahya said the terms include violations against the type of crops planted and that permanent structures were built under electric pylons, based on technical feedback from TNB. 

“The department also received complaints of disturbances lodged by residents. 

“Investigations revealed that the nursery keeps various livestock such as chickens, ducks and sheep, thus raising other issues such as odour pollution, flies and noise disturbance, which led to the enforcement action,” he said.

If it fails to comply, the group could be slapped with a RM500,000 fine with a five-year jail term. The department also threatened to clear the land. 

Ng, however, dismissed PTG claims that there were permanent structures erected on the site.  

“TNB is very particular and they come and check the site very often. There are no permanent structures. 

“We also have not received any warning from PTG that there are illegal structures here. 

“So far there is only one complaint from an immediate neighbour, but we have 10 other neighbours supporting our work.”

As for complaints about noise, bad odour and flies, Ng said he is at the farm daily and there is no such problem. 

“We hope PTG can work with us. If an area smells or if they feel a structure is out of place then we can remove it and address the issue. 

“That would be a better course of action than to evict us.”

Ng said the farm was given a two-year temporary occupation licence (TOL) in 2016 by PTG.

However, he said that the TOL was not extended in 2018, but Ng continued with the farm.

He said they received an eviction notice in 2020 and in the same year he wrote to PTG requesting for a two-year extension.

“We didn’t get a reply until three months ago that our application was rejected, with no explanation given.”

“We are not a profit-seeking organisation, but providing a service for the community, the poor and residents around the area,” he said of the work done at the farm.

He said they have sought the help of former Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar and  current lawmaker Fahmi Fadzil on their situation.

“They said they will bring this issue to the PTG, which is under the purview of the Federal Territories Ministry. 

“We were also informed that Federal Territories Minister Shahidan Kassim will pay us a visit.”

Educating people to cultivate food

Ng said the farm project, which started in 2016, is a collaboration between TNB, DBKL and PTG.

“We were given three parcels of land totalling eight acres. We are actively working on one parcel which is 2.5 acres that makes up the flowers, fruits and vegetable gardens. There is also a bee and dragonfly area.”

The Malaysian Insight also saw a pond with tilapia fishes, while ducks, chickens and sheep could be seen roaming the area. 

Ng said vegetables cultivated from the farm are distributed to soup kitchens, orphanages and refugee groups. 

“We churn out about 20-30kg of vegetables a week. But, the emphasis here is to teach people how to grow their own produce at home. 

“We also conduct workshops for the people on how to use the various products such as soil, fertiliser and other material used in farming.”

He said that on weekdays there are 10 core volunteers and on weekends it can go up to 30 people working the farm.

“Since our inception, close to 1,000 volunteers have come and gone. They range from young children to the elderly.

“We also get more than 50 visitors daily and on weekends it can go up to more than 100.

“Another community service we provide is recycling waste that we get from the neighbourhood and also from Bangsar Village shopping mall, which we turn into compost.” – June 29, 2022.