Devamany up the wall over Cameron mess

He blames weak laws and poor enforcement for the constant land clearing that is spoiling the charm of the hill resort.

PETALING JAYA: Cameron Highlands has seen better days. Once an idyllic hilly retreat, it is now beset by deforestation, unchecked farming and other problems associated with haphazard development, looking more like a place one wants to escape from.

Its MP, MIC’s SK Devamany, says the issue is driving him up the wall. He has warned of the need to save the iconic holiday destination before it is too late.

“It is a constant war against deforestation and overdevelopment in Cameron Highlands,” he said, adding that these had been ongoing for the past few decades.

He complained of vast clearing of land, poor farming practices, growers overstepping their boundaries and issues associated with these, such as soil erosion and siltation.

He spoke of the failure of the responsible parties to abide by the Development Masterplan, a document that states how construction can take place in the area.

“Even though the structure plan is very clearly laid out, a lot of requirements for hill resorts are not followed,” he said.

He said the government was aware of these problems, but he admitted that enforcement was lacking, especially where land clearing was concerned.

One reason for this, he added, was that the law was not strong enough to deal with land clearers.

“If somebody clears land during the weekend, the land office might pull all the machines back from there,” he said. “But who is going to go to court because of this?”

Apparently, it does not do much good to seize the machines and arrest the arrest the persons handling them because the masterminds do not worry about losing their equipment.

“The use of machinery is not criminalised,” Devamany said. “It’s just a fine. That’s why they can get away scot free. Even if you impound the machines, they don’t mind losing them, because they’re making more money (than they can lose).”

The Land Conservation Act 1960, which covers the conservation of hill land and the prevention of soil erosion, provides for a fine not exceeding RM5,000. The default jail term is six months or less.

Devamany said he had spoken to Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail and National Resources and Environment Minister Douglas Uggah Embas about the need for a “serious review” of legislation and enforcement.

The Star today quoted district officer Ahmad Daud as saying that his officers were finding it hard to catch the culprits involved in illegal land clearing because “district office personnel are in cahoots with the culprits”.

According to the daily, Ahmad had said that his officers had been monitoring land clearing and had conducted raids of such activity.

“However, we suspect someone from within is leaking information to the culprits, resulting in unsuccessful raids,” he had said.