CAMERON HIGHLANDS: The government did not apply finger-pointing approach to any quarters pertaining to the environmental and natural disaster issues that occur in Cameron Highlands, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said.
She stressed that the government would seek a concrete solution to the problem in ensuring the welfare of the people and the farmers.
“We can say this is wrong and that is wrong, but what are the solutions? It is not only that issue, (land for) agriculture but also the construction of tall buildings which can also contribute to landslides.
“So we want to tackle the landslide issue but at the same time, we need to take care of the farmers’ welfare,” she said in her speech at the luncheon with the Cameron Highlands farmers association in Tanah Rata here today.
Dr Wan Azizah said she was briefed on the issue of land exploration and landslides that have been occurring in the Cameron Highlands resorts and urged all parties to work together to address the problem.
She said that all the issues had been discussed during Ops Gading meeting which was chaired by her on Dec 27 last year.
She also understands the frustration of farmers here who have been working on the agriculture industry for generations over various issues affecting agriculture and their income.
During the event, six farmers’ associations handed over a 12-point memorandum on issues related to the current situation in Cameron Highlands to Dr Wan Azizah.
The 12 points are Temporary Occupation License (TOL); insufficient human capital; lack of farming inputs supply, infrastructure and facilities; lack of Research and Development (R&D) activities; lack of favourable financing; high cost of inputs and agriculture irrigation water resources.
The other points include minimum residue level (MRL) testing laboratory; redundancy of regulatory requirements; industry dominated by smallholders, relocation or reindustrial scheme and sustainable highlands agriculture policies.
The six farmers’ associations were Cameron Highlands Agricultural Entrepreneur Organisation; Cameron Highlands Flower Operators Association; Cameron Highlands Vegetable Association; Cameron Highlands Malay Farmers Association; Cameron Highlands‘Tuan Empunya Kenderaan Sayur-sayuran’ Association and the Cameron Highlands Indian Farmers Association.