FMT - https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2024/05/28/court-bars-durian-farmers-from-maintaining-fruits-pending-appeal/
Court bars durian farmers
from maintaining fruits
pending appeal
Justice Lee Swee Seng also orders Perbadanan Kemajuan Pertanian Pahang to maintain the trees pending the disposal of the farmers’ appeal against their eviction notices.
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has denied 131 durian farmers their application to enter orchards in Raub, Pahang, and to cultivate and maintain their fruits pending the disposal of their appeal to quash the eviction notices issued to them.
Justice Lee Swee Seng, sitting as a single judge, dismissed the farmers’ application after hearing arguments from the applicants’ lawyers, the state government and others.
“There shall be no destruction of structures (on the subject land) except with leave of the court pending the disposal of (the durian farmers’) appeal,” he said.
Lee also ordered state agency Perbadanan Kemajuan Pertanian Pahang (PKPP) to maintain the trees by fertilising and watering them and harvesting their fruits, as well as by warding off all pests and animals.
PKPP has been named as a co-respondent in the farmers’ appeal.
“PKPP must also file an affidavit before the 10th of every month to account for the grade of durian fruits and their selling price,” he added.
No order was made as to the costs of the application.
The durian farmers had filed an application to stay the decision of the Kuantan High Court last month dismissing their applications to quash the eviction notices issued to them.
The High Court ruled that the farmers were “squatters” and rejected claims that the state government had acted in bad faith by chasing them away.
The farmers filed an appeal to set aside the decision, seeking a temporary order to prevent their eviction as well as an order allowing them onto the land to maintain the trees.
Last week, the Pahang government indicated that it would not tolerate the 131 farmers entering the state land to cultivate and maintain their fruits, saying they were not the rightful owners of the land.
The appellate court fixed the appeal for case management on July 25.
The farmers’ group leader, Chang Yee Chin, who attended the hearing today, told reporters that there was no “winner” or “loser” in today’s proceedings.
He said the court’s decision showed that it prioritised the condition of the durian trees.
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