Sixteen farmers in Perak who feared being evicted from their land had sought the help of their Menteri Besar, Mohd Tajol Rosli Ghazali.

One of the farmers, known only as Wai Kam, told malaysiakini today that they requested for the menteri besar's help after receiving an eviction notice from the court last Friday.

According to Wai Kam, the state government had offered the farmers from Tanah Hitam, Chemor, a total of 28 acres of land elsewhere within Tanah Hitam, which comes with a five-year title.

Fourteen of them were fruits and vegetables farmers who were offered one acre each. The other two, a cattle farmer and a poultry farmer, were offered 10 acres and four acres respectively.

However, as Wai said, "we don't know where the plots are located."

Though the farmers had written a letter on May 16 to Mohd Tajol to accept part of the government's offer, they also requested that the one acre offer be increased to two acres.

In addition, the farmers asked for more time to move, specifically after they had harvested their crops. They also wanted the developer, Memori Salju Sdn Bhd, to build a road into the new area and flatten the land as well as offer reasonable compensation.

The day after that, the farmers received the eviction notice. They were given until May 30 to move, failing which they could be forcefully evicted.

No land yet

"We feel disappointed when we receive the eviction notice. We do not have the land yet. Where should we go?" Wai asked.

The 60-acre Tanah Hitam farmland was cultivated by the farmers for three generations, producing agricultural products worth some RM400,000. The farmers had even attended courses conducted by government agencies such as the Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (Fama). The cattle farmer in the area is also a six-time award-winning farmer.

The farmland now belongs to Memori Salju following the Ipoh High Court judgment early last year which granted land ownership to the developer.