Wasteful destruction of illegal farming in Blue Valley, Cameron Highlands

KUALA LUMPUR: The destruction of millions of ringgit worth of vegetable, fruits and flowers by the National Security Council (NSC) at illegal farms in Cameron Highlands on Tuesday has come under fire from the point of sheer wastefulness.
Indeed, the destruction of produce from 18.5ha of illegally farmed land in the Blue Valley, Triangkap and Kampung Raja at a time when the prices of greens are high and continue to be on the rise, raises questions as to why the seizures could not have been harvested.
If these farms were growing poppies, the need to destroy the crops would not be questioned, but many feel that produce such as vegetables, fruits and blooming flowers should not have been destroyed.
Without any exception, people interviewed by theSun agreed that stern action be taken against the culprits responsible for unlawful land clearing and their illegal immigrant labourers to put a stop to illegal farming.
But the authorities should not have resorted to wanton destruction of food like vegetable and fruits that could have been harvested and given or sold cheaply to the poor.
More than 500 personnel from 16 government agencies took part in a National Security Council operation code-named Ops Gading II on Tuesday, the second exercise mounted by the authorities following the flash floods and landslides in the highlands on Nov 4, which claimed five lives.
Transparency International Malaysia former president Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam described the action by the enforcement teams as "highly thoughtless and irresponsible".
"The enforcement action could have been done in a better way. There should have been better coordination, planning and thought as to what to do with the yield of the land, rather than destroy all the full-bloom flowers, fruits and vegetables," he told theSun.
"It was sad to see all these produce destroyed when they could have been harvested and sold in the market and the proceeds of the sale given to charities," he said, adding that the flowers for example, could have been exported to Singapore.
Ramon hoped that enforcement personnel would coordinate with the right authorities and think out of the box on how to handle the situation, especially in view of another operation in the pipeline.
"The yield from the illegal farms should have been put to good use instead of being wasted through such massive destruction."
Advertising company director Wan Nuzul Azlan agreed that government enforcement should be more stringent on illegal land encroachment to prevent damage to the environment and prevent disasters like floods and landslides in the Camerons.
"But in this case, if the vegetables were ripe and ready to be sold, they should not have been destroyed but given to old folks home, orphanages or even to the poor, especially with Christmas round the corner," he said.
There were, however, people who saw the destruction of the farms and produce as rightful punishment for illegal farmers.
"Looking at what happened (floods and mudslides) due to the existence of the illegal farms, it is right that the farms are demolished," said Amylia Zarimah Mohd, who works in a German medical supply firm.
"What's wrong is wrong, and a lesson needs to be taught to the illegal farmers, or others will follow what they do and build more illegal farms," said businessman Datuk Rashid Ghazali.