Every now and then, we would hear troubling news like trees from forest reserves being illegally extracted, state lands cleared without permission for cultivation, and intrusions into catchment areas and rivers polluted.
The latest story is the clearing of Bukit Kledang in Ipoh, Perak, for planting oil palm.
Can you see the utter confidence these illegal exploiters showed? They cleared the land to cultivate a perennial crop like oil palm, which will take years to harvest, instead of papaya or banana trees, which are annual crops. That shows these people were confident that the land they were going to occupy would not be “disturbed” for many years to come.
For goodness sake, stealing timber from the forests, illegally clearing state lands and polluting catchment areas and rivers are not misdemeanours like stealing a chicken or a buffalo.
They cannot go unnoticed under the spotlight of so many federal and state enforcement agencies.
I would have understood if all this happened during the time of the previous government, for reasons best known to most of us. But for these problems to continue unabated to this day under the Pakatan Harapan government raises many questions.
I could easily name many departments and agencies that are responsible for the problems mentioned above — the Forestry Department, the Land and Mines Department, the Drainage and Irrigation Department, the Department of Environment and the state government.
Did they really not know what was going on or were they being enticed to look elsewhere?
I just don’t believe enforcement agencies would not know the mega plundering and stealing going on right under their nose. Why must they wait for the press or for someone to highlight the malfeasance on social media?
I don’t understand why politicians and state leaders seem to know nothing unless the problems have become viral or acute. Do they not read news or have weekly and monthly meetings with all the agencies?
I have said this before and please allow me to say it again: it is about time the PH government starts punishing enforcement agencies for not doing their work.
When we see rivers and catchment areas being polluted, we should go after the Department of Environment, Department of Drainage and Irrigation and the local government authorities.
When timber is being illegally extracted, we should go after the Forestry Department. When state land is being stolen, we should go after the Department of Land and Mines and the district office.
They cannot plead ignorance or innocence because this is their raison d’être.
When anything goes wrong, we should go after the menteri besar, chief minister or the executive councillor in charge.
It is not enough just for us to go after those who commit crimes or offer bribes. It is time to go after those who condone these crimes and take bribes. It is time to change.
TK Chua is an FMT writer.
The views expressed by the writer do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.