Pig farmers fret over relocation plans

by Churchill Edward. Posted on April 2, 2011, Saturday

KUCHING: A majority of pig farmers in Kuching and Samarahan divisions are uncertain on the move to relocate from their existing farms to the modern pig farm area (PFA) in Tanah Puteh, Simunjan. This is according to Jong Ted Chin, the recently appointed protem chairman of Pig Farmers Area Relocation Committee. Speaking to The Borneo Post yesterday, Jong said: “We are not against modernisation but before relocating, we need to know if there would be a relocation fund, the terms and conditions and assurance of safety from the relevant authority, among others.”

He said about 70 pig farmers in the two divisions were affected by the relocation move. The dilemma aside, he was also concerned about the dangers of placing all farms in one area, even though the designated modern farm is huge, sitting on 2,000 acres piece of land. “It’s not that we disagree on relocating but in the process, we might have to operate two farms at one time which may incur a big amount of operation costs. Besides, we want to be assured on the safety issues as well,” he explained. He said the committee would likely be meeting the authorities on April 11 to sort things out.

“We also want to make sure that relocation fund is available because moving is very costly,” he added. Using his farm as an example, he said it would cost around RM2 million to operate the farm with 4,000 pigs, not covering maintenance costs for building and water pumps as well as staff. The miscellaneous expenses would cost extra millions of ringgit. Adding to the pressure on the part of the authority, Jong claimed, was the risk of not being able to renew their licences if they refuse to comply with the move.

“It would only be fair if all plans, including terms and conditions, are made known to us before the relocation project is implemented. If we have signed, things would not be able to change thereafter. This is why the committee was formed, to take care of our interests,” he pointed out, adding that at present, they were uncertain of the whole plan. The RM163 million modern pig farm in Tanah Puteh, Simunjan, is the biggest in Sarawak, boasts a bio-gas waste treatment plant which costs about RM93 million and a meat processing factory.

In view of their predicament and uncertainty on the future of the business, the committee will be holding a meeting and also a press conference at Tong Guan Restaurant at Central Park at 7.30pm tonight.