"Stop taking the land of the people", Kelantan BN rep to Pas

The Pas-led Kelantan government should stop taking the land which rightfully and legally belongs to the people of Kuala Betis, Barisan Nasional's Nenggiri state assemblyman said.

Mat Yusoff Ghani whose constituency in Nenggiri includes the disputed land in Kuala Betis where 378.8 ha of land is being taken away from land settlers said:

“I don’t see why the government and land office can take and sell the people’s land when they have managed to acquire it legally.”

The BN representative told The Mole that previously the State’s Land Office had taken the people’s land claiming that it was not acquired properly.

“Today the settlers had acquired the ownership and paid the land premium for the past seven years. About 600 ha of land were given and I don’t think it’s fair for the state government to claim it back,” Mat Yusoff added.

He was commenting on a news report where that the Kelantan government had taken and sold the 378.8 hectares of land to a private company.

Utusan Malaysia reported some 300 settlers from Kuala Betis claimed the Kelantan government had approved land application to two companies in November last year and land grants on Jan 28 this year.

When asked whether the Kelantan government had clarified the matter to the settlers, Mat Yusoff said: “I was informed that they had come to explain that these grants will be nullified.”

“Still, the state government will have to pay compensation to the company. I don’t understand how they can simply approve land application without checking the status,” he added.

“Why can’t they let the Kelantanese develop their own land? Where is our right?”

A blog post in Outsyed The Box stated there is a sizeable development in the Gua Musang including logging activities.

“You see this all along the road from Gua Musang to Kuala Krai. Timber is a major source of revenue as well as a major source of corruption in Kelantan. It has been going on for 22 years now. The phrase among the PAS in Kelantan is 'Ini harta Allah, harta bumi' (This is Allah's wealth, the wealth of the earth). They are clear-felling the forests,” the post read.

Commenting on this Mat Yusoff said: “It is true that there are uncontrollable logging activities in Gua Musang since 2002. I suggest you to come and see this for yourself.”

“I don’t know how much money the state government gets from selling our land and stealing our natural resources when it’s clear that the people have not benefitted from it.”