The opening up of the Ladang Rakyat (People's Estates) in Hulu Kelantan is expected to become a major issue for the state PAS government ahead of the Galas state by-election on Nov 4.

The affected residents claimed that their land had been taken from them and given to private companies to implement the project.

The issue has now become a hot topic in coffee shops in Gua Musang ahead of the nomination for the by-election on Oct 26.

A settler, Harun Che Anal, 61, said they had been toiling the land since the past two decades and that the move to give the land to private companies had affected their livelihood.

He also said that villagers had planted the land with rubber and oil palm and had now produced yields.

"We will resist any attempt to take the land from us," he said.

Gua Musang Umno deputy division chief Mat Yusof Abdul Ghani said PAS would incur the wrath of voters at the by-election.

"Some of them have lost not only their source of income but their land as well.

"The people of Gua Musang like to open up land and plant rubber, oil palm and fruit; they should be given grants for the land," he said.

Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah expressed concerns in June that the Ladang Rakyat project would affect the Orang Asli in Gua Musang.

- Bernama