Market Accessibility Problem

The Government of Malaysia, under it food productivity program has been encouraging farmers to produce more livestock including goats and cows. Although the response has been over whelming,especially in the Janda Baik area,the availability of support services interm of veterenary support and marketing capability have not seen a corresponding increase. There is not even a Vet. Doctor in the whole district of Bentong which is supposed to provid extension service for the whole district, including Janda Baik. When asked to help with marketing,no positive lead was forthcoming.

I am of the view that marketing is one of the weaknesses of governmental efforts to help the rural poor. Many crops and animal husbandary are encourage but when they are produced in large quantities, prices drop leading to gluts and dissapointment to the growers.The food processing industry is not of much help.The role of FAMA should be reevaluated to help solve small farmers marketing probem throughout the country.

MSAbdullah.

My durians are now falling

To someone not familiar with the "durian" Malaysia's kings of fruits, the above term may be perplexing. The thorny fruits are not normally plucked but they will fall from their stems when they are ready for the table.This is especially so when the trees are 30-40 feet tall in the traditional villages. It is only within the last two decades when new and improved clones were produced by government research institutions that durian trees are much shorter and some of the branches with fruits can be plucked by hand.
When I started planting fruit trees on my farm in Janda Baik in 1996/97, all the seedlings were sourced from MARDI. They were mainly the D series of durians, mangosteen and dokong. My durians started to bear fruits about two years ago and the magostee and dokong only this year; that too are not yet very prolific.Some three years later, when I acquired two more adjoing lots of land, I also planted rambutan, mangoes, avocados, and various other short term fruit trees.
This year the durians are a bit more prolific but because it rained heavily during the flowering season, the rate of pollination was much reduced. However with less fruits per tree, I noticed that fruits produced are much bigger.
MSAbdullah.

Hello World

It has been almost a year, to be exact my first Blog on this environmental concern was dated 27th August 2007, since I first wrote about the illegal clearing of forest on the hill slopes around Janda Baik. The blatant disregard for the rule of law has not only spreaded to other mountain slopes, even those areas which have been abandoned and allowed to be reclaimed by secondary jungles are now again cleared and burnt for growing vegetables.

I cannot understand why the government agencies such as the Forestry Department where the encroachment is on Forest Reserves, the Land Office where it concerns state lands and the Ministry of Environment when it comes to many hot spots of open burning are all closing one eye and shutting the other or complete abandonement of their responsibilities. These infringements of the laws of the country are not something which can be hidden or done on the slye but these leave evidences for all to see. What about other enforcement agencies like the Police and ACA? Even the mass media does some how to turn a blind eye to the whole issue. What is really happening to the whole system of Government in Malaysia today? Are we all so occupied with trying to fulfill our basic needs that we have no time for anything else? Is the purchase of some Mercs by a State Government more important than the denudation our mountain range?

MSAbdullah.

Reported Widespread Illegal Clearings to D.O.Bentong

Last Wednesday [28th May] I had the opportunity to meet the District Officer of Bentong, Pahang in his office. I took that opportunity to report to him the widespread land clearing and burning of the forest around Janda Baik by illegal vegetable growers. As he has just been posted to the District, I hope he will act on my report quickly in order to put a stop to the continuing degredation of the environment in this prestine mountainous area.

I have made this special trip to Bentong to pay for my quit rent for the year and also to check on the progress of my application for the issue of final titles for my land since my land surveyor had already submitted his work to the land office Bentong in 2003. I had paid more than RM 9 thousand dollars for the survey as detremined by the Lembaga Jurukur Tanah Semenanjung Malaysia in the hope that the process would be much faster rather that waiting for the survey to be done by the Government Survey Department. Now almost 5 years later I am still waiting for the issue of the final title. I am now told that they are not able to proceed with the issue of the final title because the degazetting of the area as a former forest reserve has not been done although the qualified title of the land was issued to me in 1973. The situation is really puzzling to me. How much longer do I have to wait?

MSAbdullah.

More Virgin Forest on Higher Slopes are slashed and burnt

Recently more and more Bloggers are drawing public attention to the many attractions of Janda Baik, but I have not come across any who want to join my appeal to the Authorities to stop the destruction of the forest on the mountain slopes by illegal vegetable cultivators.

I am really puzzeled why the State Government of Pahang is not at all concerned with this flagrant defiance of its laws on Forest Protection and also the provisions of the Land Code which does not allow exploitation of steep slopes.Inspite of the recent show of dipleasure by the voters,the Barisan Nasional led government in Pahang still does not seem to have much concern for public opinion.

Please see my earlier posts on this subject.

MSAbdullah.

Popularity of Janda Baik attacts many campers

During weekends you can see campers pitching their tents almost everywhere along the beautiful river banks in Janda Baik. I think it is done on first come first serve basis and any space as near to the water's edge appear to be the more popular choice. There are also several camp sites put up by the land owners here but free river reserves appear to be the more popular option.

While it is encouraging to see more Malaysians are taking up the government encouragement to spend more time on recreation with their famailies during weekends and prolonged holidays, healthy past times and outings must also be done in a more civilised and safe way.

Camping along wooded river banks is both romantic and idealistic but it can also open to some unexpected dangers. One is the possibilty of flash floods if there is a heavy and prolong downpour in the upper catchment of the river as has recently happened in Trengganu where some picknikers at a waterfall were drowned. Without proper sanitaion faclities, campers may also pollute the rivers whereas many households there depend on river water for domestic use.

In conclusion, while I am all for this concept of inexpensive outing with the family in the ideallyic setting of rocky mountain streams, I srongly suggest that properly established campsites with complete facilities including hygenic toilets be used by all.

MSAbdullah.

Several plots of land are on offer at Janda Baik, Bentong, Pahang.

Since my last posting,several land owners have approached me to offer their land for sale. These are lots which are easily accessible and could be developed into attractive retreats with sufficient area to do hobby farming.
Personally I already have my own, and non of the offers are adjoining pieces where I can expand my acreage.

If anybody is interested to look at these pieces with a view to owning them, I will be too happy to put you in touch with the owners or their representatives who have approached me. I have no financial interest in doing this. It will done purely on the basis of creating goodwill among fellow beings.

MSAbdullah