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Boxes of vegetables sent to Parliament to highlight farmers’ plight

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Tanah Rata assemblyman Ho Chi Yang says exorbitant rental rates in Cameron Highlands have resulted in high costs for the farmers.

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Free Malaysia Today
Those at Parliament helping themselves to the boxes of vegetables sent by the disgruntled farmers. (Ho Chi Yang pic)

PETALING JAYA:
A DAP assemblyman delivered over 100 boxes of vegetables to Parliament to highlight the plight of farmers in Cameron Highlands.

Ho Chi Yang and a spokesperson representing the farmers also handed over a memorandum to deputy agriculture and food security minister Chan Foong Hin and Senator Hatta Ramli, urging them to pay more attention to the problems faced by the farmers.

Ho said that despite the temporary occupation licence (TOL) offered by the Pahang government from 2020, farmers had to put up with high costs as a result of the steep rent they paid for their land.

Free Malaysia Today
Ho Chi Yang (fourth from left) hands over a memorandum to deputy agriculture and food security minister Chan Foong Hin.

The Tanah Rata assemblyman said the annual rent had risen from RM800 per acre to RM4,500.

“It is a 500% increase and it burdens the farmers,” he said in a statement.

He added that the rental period of “3+2” years was too short, thus discouraging farmers from investing time and money to upgrade their farming methods.

In the long run, Ho said, the situation would hamper efforts to improve the quality of the country’s crops.

“It would also derail the government’s plans to improve food security and self-sufficiency,” he said.

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