ABOUT eight villagers from the remote district of Tongod, about 270km from Kota Kinabalu, are now helpless and staring at a future filled with uncertainties.
These villagers not only witnessed the destruction of their crops by a private company but were also instructed to vacate their homes, built on the land earmarked for a pig farm, a massive project currently underway.
The Sabah government had planned the pig farm area (PFA) in 2018 but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was announced in March last year that the project would resume.
The project, once completed, would be Asia Pacific’s largest producer of pork products, said Kuamut assemblyman Datuk Masiung Banah.
During a dialogue with Kampung Entilibon in December last year, Banah said a local company would invest RM200 million to initiate a modern pig farm facility, spanning more than 202.3ha of land.
Landowners involved in the project were already compensated, he was reported as saying, adding that a 50-year agreement has already been signed with the firm.
However, according to villager Kutam Sagun, 53, he has received no compensation.
Around 48.6ha of land where he and seven of his neighbours had cultivated with rubber trees, jackfruit, padi and oil palm for more than 40 years, had been flattened recently.
“They came on a Sunday while most of us in church for prayers. We had actually approached the authorities several times over the matter. But they did not entertain us.
“They only informed us that our compensation was still under evaluation,” he said.
According to documents presented by the villagers, they had applied for a title to the Land and Survey Department between 1973 and 2018.
But Sagun said their families had been on the land for three generations.
Under sections 15(e) and 65 of the Sabah Land Ordinance, land cultivated or developed within three years by the indigenous communities in Sabah should be recognised as Native Customary Rights.
But it was learnt that the Sabah government had assigned the land in question to the State Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry.
This means all standing land applications to the land would be automatically revoked.
Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan earlier said all 44 pig farms located in various areas in Sabah will be relocated to the PFA.
It is expected to create 500 new jobs and once fully operational, the facility could generate up to RM223 million (203,000 pigs) per year, he said.
In March, Kitingan was also reported as saying that the PFA will press on despite opposition from the people in the area.
He said villagers will not be affected directly as the project sits on land owned by the state Veterinary Services Department.
Speaking to The Vibes, Malaysian Humanitarian Organisation Sabah coordinator Jerry Jaimeh said Kitingan has it all wrong.
“The villagers do not oppose the project but are demanding to be compensated, be it in the form of money or an alternative land.
“What they did is unreasonable under the law. This is a government project. All government projects should contribute to the development and wellbeing of the people. But if the first step is already causing difficulties for the residents, this is something that cannot be accepted.
“If this project is a collaboration between the government and the private sector, the government should set conditions where any company wanting to invest in this area must consider the welfare of those affected and compensate them accordingly.
“The money is coming from the company, not the government. So, how can the government overlook this?” Jaimeh asked.
Jaimeh was met at the Veterinary Department office in Tongod where he handed a memorandum demanding that authorities start a dialogue with the villagers to find compensation for them. – The Vibes, December 7, 2023
