Farmers from Kampar appealed to Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) today to intervene in their forced eviction and lack of police action on their behalf.

 

"We are just doing whatever we can to protect our livelihood," said spokesperson for the farmers, Steven Kong, in submitting their memorandum at the Suhakam office in Kuala Lumpur. 

 

He said these farmers have been toiling on 90 acres of state-owned land in Mambang Di Awan, Kampar, for over 40 years.

They have applied for temporary occupational licenses (TOL) but only some have managed to get them.

 

Since the end of March, men wielding parang and occasionally bringing bulldozers, have been threatening to evict the farmers from the land.

 

They claimed to be from a company, Delscon Properties, which  was allegedly given the land in 2007. 

 

However the men have showed no official documents or court-ordered eviction notices.

 

"They just put up a signboard asking us to leave the area," Kong related.

 

When contacted by Malaysiakin i, Delscon Properties general manager Liow Khee Beng alleged the farmers had known about the land being the company's property for a while now.
 
"We already told them the land is ours a long time ago," Liow said.
 
However, because they had no plans for the land, the company allowed the farmers to continue farming on it.
 
In September 2014, according to Liow, Delscon Properties found another farmer who was interested in renting the land.
 
Since then, the company has been trying to liaise with the farmers, but they have refused to cooperate.
 
"I sent those men because we have already tried to talk to them many times.
 
There is someone trying to rent the land legally from us, but these farmers are already using the land illegally. How can this be so?" Liow queried.

 

The farmers have lodged more than 20 police reports but have been told by police that because the land is private property, they do not consider any criminal act has been committed.

 

' No compensation, no discussion'

 

Meanwhile, the bulldozer visits have continued.

 

"They are offering no compensation, no solution. They don't want to even want to discuss with us," Kong disclosed.

 

Running out of options, the farmers have decided to appeal to Suhakam to visit Mambang Di Awan and discuss with the state government about their future. 

 

They also hope that Suhakam can meet with the Perak police about their lack of action on the alleged"criminal intimidation" against the farmers.

 

Most of all, the farmers want Suhakam to stop them from being forcibly evicted out of the land they have been working on for over 40 years.

 

"We just want to make a decent living," Kong said.

 

Suhakam secretary Rodziah Abdul accepted the memorandum and promised that the issue would be discussed in this month's commissioners meeting, set for next week.