MELAKA: Idle land in Melaka is being worked by foreigners while locals rent out land and shops to foreign nationals, says Melaka Pakatan Harapan chairman Adly Zahari, as the coalition pushed for state land to be opened up to young farmers.
The former chief minister said that on a visit to a village, he saw padi fields planted with lemongrass.
"When I asked the villagers, they said these were all foreigners from Bangladesh.
"They are not planting full-time. It is a side job for them. When they come back from work, they work the idle land to plant lemongrass," he told Pakatan's daily press conference here on Friday (Nov 6).
Adly, who is also Deputy Defence Minister, said he came across a similar case at Parliament recently.
"I met one of our citizens and asked what he did. He said he sells vegetables. So I asked who grows the vegetables. The ones growing them are foreigners," he said.
Adly said that without transparency in the system, land and shops obtained by locals end up being rented or leased to foreigners.
"The land goes to locals. The shops go to locals. But they are rented out or leased to foreigners.
"This does not give us anything, especially the younger generation," he said.
On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said action would be taken against landowners or premises owners who allow foreigners to run businesses without licences or local authority approval.
The Agriculture Census 2024 report for Melaka, released by the Statistics Department in April, recorded five non-Malaysian individual farm operators in the state.
Adly said this happens because young Malaysians have not been helped into farming.
"We know foreigners are not supposed to farm in our state and in our country. But why is this happening?
"Because sometimes we cannot fill those needs for young people, and we cannot convince them and help them see that farming can give them a good living," he said.
Citing the same census, Adly said 55% of individual farm operators in Melaka are aged 60 and above, while those aged 15 to 30 make up only 2.4%.
He said access to state land for farming must come with practical training, suitable equipment and business guidance.
"Land is the people's asset. Its management must bring lasting benefit to the people of Melaka," he said.
Adly said much of the state's unworked land is in Alor Gajah district, including Masjid Tanah, as well as in Jasin.
He said some vegetable farmers had been renting state land for nearly 30 years.
"The challenge for us is how the government can provide more plots and space so that the younger generation can farm at the right scale and with the right technology," he said.
Polling is on Nov 14, with early voting on Nov 10.
