Move to legalise highland illegals

TANAH RATA: Illegal foreign workers in Cameron Highlands may be legalised so that they may continue to work in farms here.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel said this when asked about farmers here needing workers, legal or not.

“The Deputy Prime Minister (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) did talk about ... legalising them, work permit and all that.”

“Within two months or so, the Immigration (Department) and Home Affairs (Ministry) might legalise (them),” he told reporters after the Cameron Highlands flash floods and landslides special meeting.

He added that farmers needed to be allowed to preserve their land because they had been given temporary occupation licences.

Palanivel also said that he would be sending the Sultan of Pahang Sultan Ahmad Shah a letter seeking an audience.

Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Johnity Ongkili said the structure of the Sultan Abu Bakar Dam was still sound, but the silt from the hills gathering in Ringlet Lake had the Government worried.

“The dam can only take half of what it used to be able to. Sometimes, disused cars and trucks, washing machines ... people dump them into the tributaries, and they end up in the dam,” he said.

He added that Tenaga Nasional Berhad, which operates the dam, had to take out twice as much silt from the lake this year than in 2013.

A ministry official said that some 750,000 cubic metres of silt had been removed from the lake this year, compared to 350,000 in 2013.

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