KUALA LUMPUR – Plant nursery owners along the Sg Buloh Highway may be forced to move their premises from the area, despite assurances in 2012 from then Selangor menteri besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim that they would be given land nearby to continue their business.
Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general A. Sivarajan told The Vibes that the nursery owners have now received eviction notices and may end up in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam.
“Some of the nursery operators have been asked to go to Puncak Alam. But the thing is, the land there is on a hillside where it is difficult to operate a nursery business.
“In fact, some operators were asked to relocate to industrial areas or areas under high tension cables,” he said.
Sivarajan said these plant nurseries have been operating at their current premises since the 1990s.
“In 1999, the Selangor Agricultural Development Corporation (PKPS) was awarded a temporary occupation licence (TOL) on the land, and the nurseries paid the PKPS rent,” he said.
In 2008, PKPS failed to keep the licence, and the nursery owners applied to get licences for themselves, but were rejected.
“In 2012, then menteri besar Khalid promised permanent business lots on a plot of land across the road.
“Through the Malaysian Rubber Board, the nurseries were supposed to be allocated a specific plot of land as part of the Selangor Sg Buloh Nursery Hub,” said Sivarajan.
Eight years later, instead of receiving a new plot of land nearby to do business, they were given eviction notices instead.
“Why is that when there are clear plans by the menteri besar, they are being harassed?
“Some of these nurseries have been harrassed by contractors tasked with widening the road,” he said.
Sivarajan said that on December 10, a memorandum was sent to Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari stating that the nursery operators were not agreeable to moving to interim locations far from their current premises.
“They won’t be able to survive once they go somewhere else where they can’t do business.”
Nursery owner Lee Chee Hoong expressed similar worries, saying that the Covid-19 pandemic has already badly affected his business, and it could be worse if he has to relocate.
“People come to this area if they want to buy local flowers or plants in Selangor, because there are many other nurseries here with a lot of options.
“If we move, how would our customers find us?” Lee said to The Vibes.
He said he and other nursery owners approached the Selangor government over the issue, but their attempts fell on deaf ears, resulting in them reaching out to PSM for help.
“This government is not helping the rakyat at all. It should at least form a task force to handle the matter.”
Lee said contractors tasked with widening the road nearby have been harassing the business operators there, leading to many nurseries vacating the area.
“We want the land promised to us, and we don’t mind if we have to pay rent for it. We will pay,” he said.
The Vibes has made attempts to contact Selangor infrastructure, public facilities, agricultural modernisation and agro-based industry committee chairman Izham Hashim and is currently awaiting his response on the matter. – The Vibes, December 22, 2020
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