BIDOR: They have tended the land for more than 50 years. Now, more than 500 farming families here face an uncertain future, as there is talk that the land is to be sold to developers.  

The farmers are worried because they have yet to receive land titles from the Perak government despite having submitted applications, some as far back as 20 years ago. 

A spokesman for the farmers, Lim Poh Kuang, 49, said almost all the families in the seven villages depended on farming for their livelihood.  

FOR EXPORT: Lim showing some of the mangoes he produces at his Kuala Bikam farm.

Many are third generation farmers who produce fruits such as mangoes, papayas and guavas for the export market.  

Their farms, averaging about 1ha each, are located at Kuala Bikam, Coldstream, Bidor Station, Pekan Pasir, Tanah Mas, Bidor New Village and Sungkai New Village, about 90km from Ipoh.  

“Most of the fruit farms were started by our forefathers in the Emergency days.  

“Despite facing numerous hardships, the farmers stayed on to toil the land,” said Lim, who is also Kuala Bikam MCA branch chairman. 

“And now when farmers are starting to taste the fruit of their labour, they have to worry about the future,'' he added.  

He said the farmers, who were receptive to the Prime Minister's call to modernise farming to increase production, were now wary about investing more in their farms. 

“We hope the state will listen to our appeals and allow us to continue farming here and gazette the land as agricultural land,” he said.  

“Our fruits are now being exported overseas, helping to bring in foreign exchange to the state and country,” he added. 

Tanjung Malim MCA division secretary Goh Kim Swee said the farmers had been trying to get land titles for two decades. 

“But the state has been silent all this while,” he said.