Durian farmers in Raub have alleged that former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak had attempted to divert attention from the exploitation they faced by turning it into a racial issue.
Najib had earlier revealed on Facebook that the Save Musang King Alliance (Samka) chief Chang Yee Chin was a former DAP councillor, thus any effort by the Pahang state government to negotiate with Samka is akin to having a discussion with DAP.
"Najib stated that I was a former DAP councillor, I do not think this is a problem. What's wrong with that?
"I wish to stress that I have no intention to hide the fact that I am a DAP member," Chang said in a statement today.
The Raub local said he had joined DAP because of its ideology and was appointed a Kajang councillor in 2018. He resigned in February to help his father operate a farm at Krau River as the latter was having health issues.
Chang said he found it weird that when Najib was unable to resolve a problem, he would allegedly resort to inciting the community so it would lose focus on the real issue.
"Same goes with the Musang King crisis. He pretends to be a fair man and hopes for a win-win situation between the farmers and the state government.
"But the fact is, he deliberately linked agriculture policy and land issues to racial issues," he said, referring to efforts made to label DAP as a "Chinese" party which is anti-Malay and anti-Muslims.
"His strategy is to divert the attention (of the public) from the corporate and government exploitation of the farmers and try to justify it," he added.
In his Facebook posting this morning, Najib furnished proof that Chang is a DAP man and former Kajang councillor.
"This would mean that even if the Pahang government wished to negotiate, they will not be negotiating with the durian farmers but with DAP," the Pekan MP said.
"As long as the matter is highly politicised, it would be hard to reach a peaceful solution," he added, urging the media to report the link between Samka and DAP.
Chang also slammed Najib for making the false accusation that the farmers were unwilling to negotiate with the government.
Since its formation, Samka had repeatedly expressed their readiness to discuss and work together with the government on the matter, Chang said.
The Musang King farmers controversy started when the state government decided to lease 2,168ha of land to a joint venture between state statutory body Perbadanan Kemajuan Pertanian Negeri Pahang (PKPP) and the royalty-linked private firm Royal Pahang Durian Resources (RPDR).
RPDR-PKPP had offered to sublease the land to the farmers, who in turn claimed that the terms were exploitative.
Some farmers are also claiming that they have rights to the land under the Security Relocation Scheme (RPSK) implemented by the state government in the 1970s. - Mkini
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