The Pahang State Government and the Forestry Department dramatically destroyed 15,000 durian trees in Hutan Simpanan Batu Talam in only nine days. To justify their brutal enforcement, they claimed that it was carried out to protect the forest reserve. I was shocked at how the state government shamelessly defended the enforcement operation because its excuse was nothing more than a blatant lie.
The Pahang state government seems to have forgotten that it de-gazetted 1,213 hectares of forest reserve and leased the land to Royal Pahang Durian (formerly identified as Ample Harvest Produce Sdn Bhd) in 2018, where the latter used the land to build up their ‘ambitious’ Musang King empire.
Royal Pahang Durian’s land is located near Hutan Simpanan Batu Talam, which is also near the area where the forestry department’s land-clearing enforcement took place. Worse still, the local and international media reported that the 1,213-hectare land was initially classified as the water catchment area and the habitat of the endangered species – the Malayan tigers. (Please find the articles’ links as attached below.)
I criticize the Pahang state government’s hypocrisy for treating the consortium respectfully but being cruel and ruthless to the farmers. On the one hand, the state government cut the red tape and leased the 1,213-hectare forest reserve area to the Royal Pahang Durian, but on the other hand, the state government forcefully evicted the farmers and destroyed the land where they have cultivated for almost 30 years. As such, the barbaric enforcement seems to purposefully ‘exterminate’ the entire class of Raub small durian farmers to make way for the consortium. The state government using the excuse of ‘environment preservation’ to clear the land is simply hypocritical and shameless.
I doubt the state government’s intention to protect the forest reserve. After all, if the government simply granted a huge swathe of land to RPDR, why did it ignore the farmer’s land applications and appeals for decades?
A crucial point to highlight is that the durian farmers did not chop down the trees in the forest reserve area for durian tree planting. Instead, the state government granted logging companies to carry out logging in the area, and trees were not replanted afterward. As such, the farmers eventually converted the idle land into durian farms.
The state government does not care about environmental protection at all. Instead, their so-called “environmental protection” is merely an excuse to suppress the farmers. If the state government is indeed concerned about the environment, it would not grant a huge swathe of land, which consisted of Malayan tiger habitat and water catchment areas, to a giant consortium.
The state government’s enforcement operation is an elaborate act with ulterior motives. Their purposes are to deter other unlicensed farmers and create white terror in order to force them to sign the unequal contract set by the consortium. The legal team for SAMKA has initiated judicial proceedings against state government’s contempt of court. I urge the farmers to continue to unite and stick to the three principles of not cooperating, not signing any unequal contracts, and not compromising so that justice will be restored.
Related articles’ links:
23-10-2018, The Star, Jungle’s goodness gone – and it’s legal:
23-10-2018, The Straits Times, Demand for durians threatens tigers, water supply in Malaysia as jungles razed:
24-10-2018, The Guardian, China’s appetite for ‘stinky’ durian fruit threatening endangered tigers:
24-10-2018, Malaysiakini, Musang King durian plantations putting Malayan tigers at risk, says report:
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/448820
13-11-2018,The Star, Durian plantation developer under investigation:
Royal Pahang Durian (RPD)’s official website：
https://royalpahangdurian.com/about/
RPD’s explainer video about its durian farms：
