Illegal Immigrants Burning State Forests for Agriculture?

The hot and dry season is again in our midst. I can’t help but notice that the sky is getting hazier and my breathing a little more difficult. But what irks me most was the press conference interview given by Elizabeth Wong, the Selangor State Exco for Environment that I read this morning. According to her and as reported in the Star: “The illegal immigrants are the major culprits who carry out open burning in Johan Setia, Klang, causing the air in the area to deteriorate. About 200 of them living in the area have been doing open burning for agricultural purposes on the 350 acre forest area. The authorities including enforcement officers from the immigrations and the Department of Environment (DOE) have been trying to catch the culprits but all efforts seem to be in vain. We will organise a joint effort together with the Immigration Department, police, the DOE, Rela, Klang Municipal Council and Fire Department to catch them. But we will not tell when it will take place.”

This is a real baloney, Elizabeth Wong. How can this happen - illegal immigrants burning state forest for agriculture purposes and the authorities have problems apprehending them? Either the illegal immigrants are super humans who can disappear into thin air each time enforcement officers come a calling or you are just a gullible fool listening to cock and bull story.

State forests are being burnt openly for agriculture and in some instances the lands even sold by syndicates to landless farmers. We have litany of enforcement agencies – Immigration Department, Police, Department of Environment, Rela, Municipal Council, and Fire Department - but they all seem so helpless. Do you know what each of these departments is supposed to do, Elizabeth Wong? Do you know for sure whether these departments have actually carried out their jobs?

Look, we are not here talking about house break-in or petty theft where the culprits can be anywhere. It is really beyond me to comprehend how the state forests could be burnt by illegal immigrants for agriculture purposes and yet there is nothing much that the authorities can do about it. It is agriculture, remember? There must be some form of semi-permanent settlement. The land must be tilled and crops planted. May I know who come to attend the crops; who come to harvest the crops? The authorities have problems catching them and the State Exco believes that? I think we need a smarter Exco. For a while I thought Pakatan Rakyat is going to make a difference. The more I follow the events unfolding, the more the problem stays the same. I am sorry, this is not personal. I don’t know who is this Elizabeth Wong, never met her and never heard of her before March 8, 2008.