No action against illegal farmers working on state-owned land, says Perak govt

IPOH: The Perak government will not take action against illegal farmers working on state-owned land despite letters sent telling them to vacate the land.

The state government said issuing letters asking farmers to vacate state-owned land is part of its standard operating procedure.

"After checking with the state Land and Mines Office, the farmers are being offered new land located at Tanah Hitam in Chemor.

"Right now, the ownership of the land is being transferred to the state Agriculture Development Corporation," it said in a statement on Thursday (July 25).

Earlier, seven farmers handed over a memorandum to the Perak Mentri Besar in protest after being served with a notice to vacate their farm that is located on a state-owned land.

It was reported that the land had been given to 39 players and staff members of Super League side, Perak FA, after the football team won the Malaysia Cup last year.

"The state government is committed to tackling the illegal farming issues in Perak as well as helping small-scale farmers to continue farming.

"To do so, we are giving the land to government-linked companies (GLCs) where farmers can rent the land legally," said the state government.

It said the illegal farming activity has hampered the state from continuing its development projects such as building affordable homes and other economic activities that could welcome more investors to Perak.

"To combat the issue, we have set up a special committee to tackle the matter."

It said the committee's main task is to take action against illegal farming by companies.

A total of 24,000ha of state-owned and GLCs-owned land are being used for illegal farming.