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Camerons expose should lead to better management

With due respect to the Sultan of Pahang Sultan Ahmad Shah, I find his criticism and outburst at G Palanivel, who is the Member of Parliament for Cameron Highlands and who is also the Natural Resources and Environment Minister, are unjustified.

It is an attempt to find a scapegoat for the problems plaguing Cameron Highlands, which is Malaysia’s main vegetable and flower producer. Many others, too, have joined the band-wagon to hurl unfair accusation against Palanivel, who is also the MIC president.

Environmental degradation in the Cameron Highlands due to illegal clearing of the high terrain has been going on for decades. Over the years, there have been frequent mudflows, landslides and loss of lives. Land and its usage are exclusively state maters and the state is over-protective of this right. As such, why should Palanivel, who is only a federal government representative, be held responsible?

It is the legislative assembly member for Cameron Highlands, who is also state government representative, as well as Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob, who should be held accountable for the lack of action despite so many appeals from residents, NGOs, visitors, tourists, and the general public.

Since his election as MP of the problem-ridden Cameron Highlands 18 months ago, Palanivel has used his added authority as environmental minister, to highlight the gravity of the situation to the urgent attention of the state and the federal government. He has come up with some good suggestion, during the last 18 months.

But the ravaging of the Cameron Highlands goes on uninterruptedly. Those in the Cameron Highlands district office and the municipal council, who are proximate to the problems, should have taken action against the culprits.

What can a powerless Member of Parliament do against dead-set land grabbing exploiters, who are purportedly assisted by palace officials, as it was revealed by the surat kuning (yellow letters), the indifferent district office and others in the state administration?

As has been said before, corruption is the central issue here and it is the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), which needs to take pro-active efforts to arrest the perpetrators and not wait months or years to find out that the corrupted officials are living beyond their means, as is the popular refrain from Malaysia’s graft-busting agency.

There is also a need for good environment-friendly and sustainable farming practices in Cameron Highlands. In some countries even higher terrains are farmed without causing major ecological damage. Canopied (plastic sheeting) terraced farming leads to a large run-off, during heavy rains and proper drain, sumps need to be built collectively by the farmers and the water needs to be conveyed to lower grounds through pipes to reduce erosion, gullies, cave-ins, and landslides.

Water erosion is the main reason

Clearing of land in itself is not the sole cause of the problem, but the erosion of the exposed land caused by water is the main reason. Farmers should be directed to place their garden refuse and other trash at designated places near their farms to prevent dumping into drains and rivers that adds further risks to the Cameron Highlands.

The Cameron Highlands municipal authorities should clear the garbage on a regular basis and this also helps the safe operation of the Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) hydro electric dam.

The farmers association, the Agricultural Ministry, the state administration, and the federal government could all play a positive role in the proper agricultural development of the Cameron Highlands. The other forms of development, especially commercial and residential should be strictly controlled.  Too steep slopes should be rehabilitated urgently, as it is not viable, due to constant erosion.

The Cameron Highlands should be strictly for highlands agricultural produce and not for lowland vegetables. The easy availability of large scale cheap foreign labour has also facilitated the illegal clearing of forested areas and this issue must be given due importance.

Selangor, which has a large population, should ease the pressure on Cameron Highlands by allocating more land for vegetable, fruits and livestock farming. There are large tracts of land in the out-lying districts, such as Hulu Selangor, Kuala Langat, Tanjong Karang, etc. Many of Selangor’s urban poor can be provided two to five acres of land for this purpose on a temporary occupation licence (TOL) basis.

Now that the ravages of Cameron Highlands have been exposed, and even incurred the wrath of the sultan, it is hoped that the situation will get better in the future.

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