From The Star:
Wednesday September 5, 2007If you just read The Star propaganda, you would think that all is hunky dory, and that the pig farmers had an amicable meeting with the state authorities and have reached an agreement to sell 2,000 pigs daily to reach that magical number of 48,000. Never mind the questions on how that 48,000 figure was arrived at, and more bizarrely, who appointed the MCA fellas as spokespersons for the pig farmers, and given the mandate to negotiate on their behalf. Contrast the spin above with this report from Malaysiakini:
Breeders to cut number of pigs to reduce pollution
MALACCA: Pig breeders here have agreed to reduce the number of pigs reared in the state to 48,000 by Sept 21 to cut down pollution in rivers near the farms, Masjid Tanah MP Datuk Abu Seman Yusop said.
This was agreed on during a meeting chaired in the Masjid Tanah Umno District Office yesterday which was attended by Kota Melaka MP Wong Nai Chee; State Housing, Local Government, Environment and Transport Committee chairman Koh Nai Kwong; Information, Multimedia, Science and Technology Committee chairman Datuk Seah Kwi Tong, Human Resource Minister and Alor Gajah MP Datuk Seri Fong Chan Onn and Rural and Agriculture Development Committee chairman Datuk Hamdin Abdollah.
The four areas in the state involved in pig rearing are Paya Mengkuang, Manlok, Bukit Beruang and Air Molek. There are an estimated 148,000 pigs in these farms and there have been many complaints about the stench, the unhygienic conditions and the pollution of nearby rivers.
“Only Paya Mengkuang will be allowed to continue its pig farming activities. The other places should no longer be operational after Sept 21,” said Abu Seman.
Yesterday morning, personnel from the Federal Reserve Unit, police, Public Works Department, Malacca City council and Alor Gajah Municipal Council had gone to the four pig-rearing areas to cull the pigs.
Malacca police chief SAC 1 Datuk Mortadza Nazarene said holes were dug in Bukit Beruang and Manlok, but none were shot.
Tense stand-off over pig farms eases
Sep 4, 07 3:27pm
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/71950
Police personnel pulled out of Paya Mengkuang New Village at 4.05pm, easing the worries of pig farmers who had expected to see all their animals forcibly culled today.
It is learnt that as part of a deal struck at a two-hour meeting between state authorities and MCA top leaders, the farmers will now voluntarily relocate at least 1,000 of their pigs to Johor and Selangor within the next few days. This could not be immediately confirmed.
Since this morning, about 100 villagers had faced off 300 enforcement officers in a tense stand-off over action to close their pig farms. The villagers had kept a vigil in the area since last night.
All major roads leading into Paya Mengkuang - about 30 minutes’ drive north of Malacca city - were cordoned off by the police, isolating the village. Numerous media personnel resorted to seeking local knowledge for off-road entrances to the area.
Fifty of the state enforcement officers stood by in plastic-suits, waiting for the state government’s order to move into the pig farms to kill the animals.
About 100 police personnel were also on stand by, of which about 50 of them were anti-riot personnel armed with batons, canes, revolvers, gas-canister launchers and automatic rifles.
Six excavators had been brought in to dig mass graves to bury the dead pigs while six police trucks including some with water cannon were stationed in the vicinity.
Human barricade
On the other side were the villagers - men, women and children forming a human shield at the main entrance to their farms. The barricade included a number of small trucks.
The whole culling operation (which, at the end, was not carried out) was exercised like they were preparing for war. Which is expected considering how the authorities is handling the entire issue in the first place - from the extremely short notice given, no proper and viable alternatives provided, as well as the unmistakably political nature of this hot potato. The CM of Melaka is more likely than not trying to shore up political support for himself. Perhaps his series of antics in currying favour of the PM is not delivering the much needed effects and benefits.
They were carrying a dozen national flags and two big banners commemorating the nation’s 50th anniversary of independence.
The state government had identified at least 15 farms to be closed to reduce pollution and the number of pigs.
Chief Minister Muhd Ali Rustam was reported to have told the state assembly in July that the pig population would have to be reduced to a maximum of 48,000 to control pollution emanating from the farms.
This will slash the number of pigs by two-thirds - there are currently 140,000 pigs in the state.
In addition to Paya Mengkuang, two other villages are affected by the directive - Ayer Molek and Bukit Beruang new villages. Police are believed to have pulled out of these areas as well.
At the end of the day, the CM is trying to rid Melaka of its entire pig population, but has been thwarted thus far. One wonders how long more efforts to put off this eventuality will succeed. The whole issue is political, not to mention racial and religious in nature. All the stench, pollution, and environmental concerns are but convenient excuses. After all, these are not a problem in large scale modern, clean, and odourless integrated pig farms in Germany, the US, and Taiwan. The "proposed" central pig farming location in Melaka was supposed to address these environmental problems. But does anyone know what has happened to that "proposal"?
As an aside, KTemoc has a series of blog entries on this Melaka pig saga.
All pictures from Malaysiakini
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