Food has become an expensive thing in Malaysia with simple weekly groceries for a household can easily come up to a minimum of RM200.
With that being said, would it really be a smart move for the authorities to forcibly clear out land that has been used by farmers to contribute to our local food supply for the sake of housing and industrial development?
Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) took to their Twitter page to share further information on this exact matter that is taking place in Perak, where farmers are allegedly being forcibly evicted to make way for a housing and industrial development project.
They wrote, “The Perak Farmers’ Association visited Parliament to hand over a memorandum to the sitting Members of Parliament with a call to maintain vegetable production areas in the state of Perak, such as Kathan, Tanah Hitam and Changkat Kinding.”
“The disposal of 1,600 acres of land was carried out against areas that were producing food such as vegetables, fruits, fresh fish and ducks for 20 years by the Perak State Government for housing construction projects and industrial developments.”
These farmers are allegedly the largest suppliers of vegetables in Perak as they produce an estimated 80 tons of vegetables and fruits every day, and very much contribute to the food security of the country.
But wait, it gets worse.
Considering the takeover by the State Government, the farmers, alongside PSM, had decided to conduct a peaceful march yesterday (September 12) from Taman Tugu to the main gate of the Parliament building in Kuala Lumpur to submit their memorandum to the Members of Parliament.
However, before they could even start their march, they were stopped by what can only be described as an army of Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) officers who blocked their way and disallowed them from marching.
The Parti Sosialis Malaysia Youth Wing Secretary, Gandipan, took to his Twitter account to showcase this incident.
“We can’t even give the memorandum at Parliament?” he asked.
Thankfully, another NGO, Lawan Lapar, was present outside of Parliament at the time and managed to hand the memorandum over to Muar MP, Syed Saddiq.
“I received a memorandum from Lawan Lapar this morning (September 12), outside of Parliament. An activist group is fighting for food security and the welfare of farmers and fishermen. Food security issues are fundamental needs for us. The rights of our farmers and fishermen must be protected to ensure food security for all Malaysians,”
“Insya-Allah, I will bring this food security issue to Parliament and urge the Government to resolve this issue,” he wrote.
What do you think of all of this? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
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