KUANTAN: The famous Beserah green durians may be completely wiped out from the area one day if bauxite miners have their way as they continue to expand their activities by grabbing more than 20 hectares of durian farms here.
According to Taman Beserah Satellite resident Kapt (retired) Dailus Yusof, 48, miners had cleared up a durian farm behind his house, turning it into a wasteland.
"In one year, the cooling green farm has turned into a wasteland by miners. Now it is dusty when the weather is dry, and muddy during rainy season," he told Bernama.
Dailus, who has been living in the housing estate for two years, said if Bukit Goh Felda settlers lost their oil palm trees here due to bauxite mining, in Beserah, farmers were losing durian trees.
"Why must we generate wealth for others and suffer environment degradation," said Dailus.
A long-time resident of Beserah, Muhammad Ismail said he was worried that one day, there would be no more tasty green durians to be enjoyed by future generations.
"The green durian D145 is really tasty with its thick reddish yellow flesh which is not sticky. In fact, the taste is richer and sweeter than Musang King. These famous fruit trees appear to be depleting by the day due to bauxite mining," he lamented.
A durian farmer in Kampung Beserah, who only wanted to be known as Pak Ajis, admitted he made quite a sum by leasing his durian farm of almost one hectare.
Declining to reveal the amount of money he received, Pak Ajis, 62, however, said he was literally forced to lease his farm after it was intruded by a rogue bauxite miner at the end of 2014.
"I initially did not want to lease my farm for bauxite mining but when my durian trees were felled without my knowledge, I had to lease to him in the end.
"I claimed RM5,000 from him for damaging my trees and on seeing the helpless situation, I gave in to lease my farm. I later discovered that other bauxite operators were offering even higher prices for our farms," he said, adding that more than 30 farmers had leased their land.
Pak Ajis said he had another 1.2 hectares of fruit farm and was determined not to give in to the miners.
However, he said that mining activities had affected his fruit yields, as his dokong fruits did not ripen properly last year, while the durians were also smaller and not as tasty as before. - Bernama
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