'Even pigs can be political fodder,' Amanah Youth jabs at PN

Summary

• Perak Amanah Youth accuses PAS of using the pig farm issue as cheap political fodder.

• State youth chief Khairol Najib Hashim said the numbers cited by PAS were not the outcome of any political initiative.

AYER KUNING POLLS | Perak Amanah Youth has accused “certain quarters” on the campaign trail of playing up the issue of pig farms in the area as cheap political fodder.

Its chief Khairol Najib Hashim said it is regrettable that certain quarters attempted to deceive party members and voters that 34 pig farms were closed during the 2020-2022 Perak state administration.

“The figures cited regarding pig farms in Perak were actually the result of enforcement carried out by the state Veterinary Services Department under the Pig Farming Control Enactment 1992 and its 2009 regulations – long before Perikatan Nasional came to power,” said Khairol in a statement.

“In reality, it was not the outcome of any political initiative, nor the result of anyone in PAS showing courage, and certainly not from any plan brought to the state executive council.

“It was merely routine administrative action by a state government agency – and yet they want to ‘claim’ credit for it,” said the Amanah leader.

Issues surrounding legal and illegal pig farms in Malay-majority areas within Ayer Kuning sparked a war of words between Amanah and PAS, the former targeting the latter’s alleged failures to act while in the previous state government.

Commenting further, Khairol pointed out that two PAS representatives in the previous Perak government were tasked to oversee the agriculture and environment portfolios.

“But what’s the result? The pigs are still running rampant.

“There’s no relocation plan, no restructuring, no policy changes,” he said.

“All we get are excuses - that the farmers have spent millions to manage the stench, so they shouldn’t be disturbed,” said Khairol, referring to a reported remark by state opposition leader Razman Zakaria, as the then-state executive councillor in charge of agriculture.

“Do not let this issue be exploited by those who failed when they held power, but now hide behind numbers and sentiment.

“When other issues no longer work, even pigs can be political fodder,” Khairol said.

Earlier, PAS information committee research and policy department director Nurul Islam Mohamed Yusoff dared Perak Amanah Youth to bathe in any rivers in Ayer Kuning, to prove the water is clean and pure amid concerns of waste discharged by pig farms.

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