Perak to check if eviction of 53 farmers was fair

thestar - The state will investigate if a decision by the previous Perak government to evict 53 farmers, who have to make way for a quarry and cement factory at the Malim Nawar new village, had been fair.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin said the state government would have to first check if there were elements of "injustice" in the decision to evict the farmers who had been toiling there for some 30 years.

"We will look into whether we could set aside the decision of the previous government," Nizar said Monday after meeting some of the farmers at his office at the State Secretariat Building here.

"If there were elements of 'injustice' in the decision, we will cancel it," he added.

He said state executive council (exco) member Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi, in charge of agriculture, would study the matter for discussion at the next exco meeting. more...