CAMERON HIGHLANDS: The vegetable farm at Batu 59, Blue Valley, here which was hit by a landslide that resulted in five people being buried alive, had been operating illegally for more than a year.
This matter was confirmed by the district officer, Syed Ahmad Khirulanwar Al-Yahya Syed Abdul Rahman, during a press conference here today.
He said the 4.31ha farm in Sector D of the Sungai Wi Forest Reserve area was confiscated by the Forestry Department in April last year and the 31-year-old operator had been arrested before.
"The farm owner had gone through the confiscation process on April 10 last year after operating it before being arrested on April 14 after being suspected of violating the provisions of Section 81 of the National Forestry Act 1984.
"The owner had previously applied for a forest use permit with the Forestry Department to open a vegetable farm there.
"However, the department could not approve the application due to a dangerous slope (in the area)," he said.
In the incident at 2.40am yesterday, five Myanmar nationals, including a woman, were feared to be buried alive after two houses occupied by them were hit in the landslide.
Three bodies were retrieved from the landslide area as of press time.