KUANTAN, May 10 — The Pahang government will not acquire any land to carry out projects, including the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) in the state, without first consulting the landowners, said Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail.

"Everything must follow the procedure...(but) it is not possible for the government to acquire the land without meeting the landowners. There may be a misunderstanding or miscommunication,” he said.

Wan Rosdy said this when interjecting Andansura Rabu (PAS-Beserah), who was debating the motion of thanks for the royal address of the Regent of Pahang, Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah at the Pahang state assembly at Wisma Sri Pahang today.

Andansura said some residents of a village in Chendor here had raised concern over their future after being visited by indidvuals claiming to be consultants who told them that their land had been taken for the implementation of the ECRL project.

Meanwhile, (DAP-Tanah Rata) hoped that the state government would consider reducing the agricultural land rental fee and extending the rental period to farmers in Cameron Highlands, in order to create a more stable agricultural ecosystem.

"The yearly RM4,500 per acre rental rate is quite high and has burdened the farmers as it involves a 500 per cent rental increase. Most of them, especially the small-scale farmers, face various challenges such as unstable vegetable prices that depend on various factors, especially the weather.

"When the farmers are concerned about their land tenure security, most of them will not invest capital and time in advanced methods or technology to increase crop production,” he said.

Ho also urged the state government to review the ban on commercial vehicles from using part of the Jalan Tapah-Cameron Highlands route from 10 am to 3 pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, as it can impact the supply of vegetables in the market.

"There are approximately 3,000 farms in Cameron Highlands and this ban is also feared to reduce the supply of vegetables in the market, further increasing prices due to insufficient supply,” he said.

The sitting continues tomorrow. — Bernama