The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (FECAM) will strive for the rights of pig farmers to continue raising livestock in their original land.

FECAM president Lim Gait Tong (right) said today that if there are strong reasons to move, the farmers will only do so after alternative land has been found.

Lim said this in a statement after meeting representatives of the Federation of Livestock Farmers' Association of Malaysia from four states in Kuala Lumpur this morning to resolve complaints linked to pig farming.

After the one-hour close door meeting, Lim declined to speak to the media.

In his statement, he also suggested that the problems of pig breeding be resolved via long term, mid term and short term solutions.

The short term solution, he said, is to quickly deal with the issue of shifting pig farms. The mid and long term solutions is to set a target date to set up pig estates in every state in order to solve the problem of pollution and allow pig farmers to invest in their land and build better facilities.

Report

Meanwhile, representatives of the farmers had also agreed that they will submit a report to the Federation of Livestock Farmers Association of Malaysia, the respective state Chinese Assembly Halls and FECAM regarding the quality of their land for raising pigs, temporary land title or illegal land title and the degree of pollution.

This report will also be submitted to the government.

In recent months, pig farmers in Selangor and Malacca have faced numerous problems and FECAM said priority will be given to resolve them with the assistance the respective Chinese State Assembly Halls.

The problem of breeding pigs in temporary and illegal lands was a main issue and many of the pig farms had received orders from the state government to close due to pollution and location problems.

Some of these cases have even gone to court.