CAMERON HIGHLANDS: THE man in charge of the administration of a beleaguered Cameron Highlands broke his silence yesterday, as pressure continues to build on authorities tasked with enforcing laws and preserving the highlands to buck up.
Cameron Highlands district officer Datuk A. Rahman Hamzah looks like a man who has the weight of the world on his shoulders, as he acknowledged the immensely complex problems facing the highlands for years.
The tone and timbre of his voice tells of the huge task he knows he has to take on, to save the highlands from total destruction.
He squeezed in the New Straits Times’ team for a short interview at midnight yesterday, as he and his officers worked overtime to prepare to answer some undoubtedly tough questions from the Sultan of Pahang, Sultan Ahmad Shah, on issues affecting the highlands.
The sultan is scheduled to arrive here today.
Rahman, who assumed the post five months ago, acknowledged that issues surrounding the highlands had to be resolved once and for all.
He admitted it would be a monumental task but pledged to do all that was needed to give the highlands at least a sliver of hope for survival.
Touching on the issue of greedy farmers who blatantly open land, including forest reserves, to maximise their output and profits, Rahman said he would put in place a sound mechanism for his office’s enforcement and monitoring.
Once good to go, he said, there should be no problem in identifying areas that had been illegally cleared.
In the highlands, among the most rampant illegal land clearing are by Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL) holders, who expand their farm beyond what had been sanctioned.
Taking the cue from the National Audit Department and Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob, who had agreed with NST’s call last week for a thorough audit of land administration in the highlands, Rahman said he took note of the state and Federal Government’s stand on the matter.
His office is digitising the map of land categories, including the cultivation of land under TOLs. He said changing the local plan mapping system would allow enforcers to immediately cross-check the map against what the TOL holders were working on.
“The role of every district office is to implement policies and instructions given by the state and federal governments.
“We welcome the call for an audit of the department. This will also help us to further identify the sources of the problem.
“We have put in place a ‘3M’ enforcement system: Mengenali (identifying), Mengendali (addressing) and Menyelesai (solving) in tackling issues in the highlands.”
Rahman, however, asked that he be given time to show results, saying there were many factors compounding the situation here, which had persisted for years. He said he needed to “strategise to make sure the best solutions were in place to arrest the problems once and for all”.
Rahman, who chose his words carefully throughout the interview, told the NST that his office had no power over enforcement agencies guarding the highlands.
He was non-committal when asked if he was alluding to the other law enforcement agencies shifting the blame to the district office.
“Let us all do our jobs in preserving the highlands and correcting what is wrong.”
To a question, Rahman acceded that Cameron Highlands was actually protected under the Land Conservation Act 1960, and not only the National Land Code, said to be hampering enforcement as, among others, culprits had to be caught red-handed.
Only two areas in the country are gazetted as “Hill Land” under the law. The other is Penang Hill.
The law restricts the clearing and cultivation of hills. It spells out clearly how soil in such areas must be protected from “erosion and the inroad of silt”.
Under the law, planting of short-term crops is allowed only if applicants “satisfy the land administrator that cultivation would not cause soil erosion”.
The law empowers land administrators, or those authorised by them, to enter farms that had breached their temporary cultivation of crops licences to initiate remedial works.
While the owners would be billed for this, they would still be liable for prosecution and punishment under the law.