RAUB: Durian farmers, who were supposed to enter their farms to collect their harvest at Tras near here, were stopped in their tracks today.
They were left puzzled by the roadblocks setup at the entrance to their farms as the Court of Appeal had previously allowed them to enter as usual until a full appeal is heard in court.
On Jan 5, the Court of Appeal granted 204 durian farmers in Raub a stay pending the appellate court's hearing.
Save Musang King Alliance (Samka), in a statement, questioned the move by the Pahang government to blatantly disobey the court's order and block the durian growers from entering their farms.
"When the farmers arrived at the entrance about 9am today, the road blocks had been setup and there were several vehicles owned by the State Forestry department along with the police's Light Strike Force (LSF) team.
"When Tras assemblymen(Chow Yu Hui) and Samka president (Wilson Chang) sought clarification, the police informed them they were following instructions. The police told them to refer the matter to a state government representative who was present at the spot," read the statement.
Samka said the representative argued that the law enforcement area (the operation today) was not within the restricted areas as stated in the court order.
"The individual claimed they wanted to go into the farms and arrest the trespassers. The officer-in-charge said he has no power to suspend the enforcement operation and since there was no decision, the farmers decided to lodge a police report at the Raub police headquarters," it read.
Meanwhile, Chow alleged that the authorities were disobeying the court order and he would seek advice from the legal team on the next move.
"The operation is conducted during the durian fruiting season where the authorities continue to exploit the farmers. The enforcement is motivated by the interest of the state-backed consortium (Royal Pahang Durian Resources-PKPP Sdn Bhd)," he said.
Meanwhile Chang said previously the enforcement operations were carried out at the durian farms at Sungai Klau and has now expanded to Tras where six major durian farms were located.
The drama unfolded last year when a joint venture deal between RPDR-PKPP upset durian farmers in Raub who claimed that the deal would result in the small-scale farmers to incur losses.
The Pahang government defended the move saying it had adopted a rational approach to tackle widespread land encroachment involving Musang King durian farmers in Raub instead of completely tearing down the illegal farms. Last year, the farmers had initiated a lawsuit to defend their rights.