An enforcement operation that involves 61 farms located at Sungai Ichat, Cameron Highlands was commenced by the State Government since February 25. The farms will be demolished and small farmers will be losing their source of income as no solution is given.
Firstly, I would like to stress that I fully support the government’s effort in making the Cameron Highlands sustainable. Nevertheless, the enforcement operation is affecting hundreds of families who have been farming since decades.
The question now is: Besides carrying out enforcement, is it reasonable for the State Authority to offer “a way out” for the farmers who are evicted? They are not outside intruders but many of them have been farming in Cameron Highlands since young for decades.
The farmers desperately need a humane solution, When I suggested the solution of relocating the farmers, some claimed that this suggestion is unfair to others who are law-abiding and would possibly encourage more illegal encroachment in the future.
Therefore, I would like to provide a suggestion to all quarters including the State Authority in order to maintain a sustainable nature and also to ensure the well-being of farmers, namely Permanent Food Park Programme (Taman Kekal Pengeluaran Makanan, TKPM).
Permanent Food Park Programme (TKPM) is a strategy under the Third National Agricultural Policy to encourage agricultural projects of large scale, commercial in value and with high technology. Moreover, TKPM can also be a relocation station for farmers in Cameron Highlands who have been taken action against, with certain conditions attached.
TKPM is funded by the Federal Government and is managed by the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), with the objective of creating a food production area. In Malaysia, we have developed 76 TKPM projects, of which Pahang state itself has 16. TKPM in Lancang, Termeloh is one of the biggest projects of TKPM with the size of 3,600 hectares (10,000 acres) and was developed since 2005. It is therefore not a brand new idea and we have no reason to worry about its execution and management.
The objective of TKPM project in Cameron Highlands will be to create a permanent zone that produces food for export purpose in a sustainable, environmentally friendly and high-tech way in order to ensure adequate, quality and well established food exports for the country.
Farmers currently in areas that are unsuitable for farming such as water catchment area, forest, river reserve and road reserve, can be relocated to a TKPM site.
To ensure sustainable farming activities, the project will be equipped with basic infrastructures and advanced technology such as good drainage system, main irrigation system, farm tracks, as well as electricity and water supply.
The government can monitor its execution continuously to ensure that farming activities are conducted in an environmentally friendly way to produce harvests of high quality and to encourage the development of an integrated chain of food production.
TKPM can thus provide a way out for the farmers who will be evicted from sites that are unsuitable for farming. We need not worry that TKPM may be abused by intruders or illegal settlers, because the relocation to TKPM is limited to those who have been farming since decades ago.
With the production of harvests of high quality, this TKPM project can serve as an exemplary model to all farming activities in Cameron Highlands, which will in turn help recover the prosperity and sustainability of Cameron Highlands.