High Court extends stay on enforcement against Raub durian farmers to Dec 9

 

The Kuantan High Court today has extended a stay on the enforcement action against unlicensed durian farms in Raub to Dec 9.

The ruling was made by High Court judge Zainal Azman Abdul Aziz, according to lawyer Siew Choon Jern who represented 111 Raub durian farmers.

Siew told Malaysiakini that after hearing the submissions from both sides, Zainal also fixed Dec 9 for a decision on the leave application by Raub durian farmers for a judicial review of the state government's decision to award the lease and usage rights of 5,357 acres (2,168 ha) of land to RPDR-PKPP.

RPDR-PKPP is a joint venture between state statutory body Perbadanan Kemajuan Pertanian Negeri Pahang (PKPP) and the royalty-linked private firm Royal Pahang Durian Resources (RPDR).

The Raub District Land Office, Forestry Department, Pahang government, as well as PKPP and RPDR were named as respondents of the case.

For the record, an interim stay order was first granted on Aug 28 and was valid until today (Oct 28) in order to stay all action or proceedings pursuant to the state authorities' notices to reclaim the farmland.

Previously, the land lease and use rights to 5,357 acres (about 2168 hectares) were granted by the Pahang government to RPDR-PKPP in June 2020. The state government issued notices and aimed to officially take back the land on Aug 24.

Meanwhile, according to Bernama, senior federal counsel Noor Fadzila Ishak submitted that they were not owners of their farmland nor were they issued temporary occupation licences (TOL) to use the land as their farms.

As such, she submitted that they were trespassers or squatters who had no locus standi (legal rights) to file the case. 

She also submitted that the farmers made a mistake in filing the application for a judicial review.

Instead, the farmers should have filed a notice of appeal against the decision of the land administrator within three months after the notice was served to them, she said.

In response, he submitted to the court that whether the farmers were "trespassers" or not could be argued in the substantive hearing stage; therefore, their leave should be granted to commence judicial review proceedings.

To date, there have been over 200 Raub durian farmers who have filed lawsuits to challenge the "legalisation scheme" in two separate suits.

Besides the above-mentioned case, another 94 farmers had filed a separate leave application on Oct 28, based on almost the same set of facts and arguments.

According to Siew, the second leave application was initially fixed to be heard on Nov 17, but the judge today rearranged the date to Dec 9. - Mkini