KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 ― Putrajaya has been urged to intervene in the ongoing land dispute involving Great Alonioners Trading Corporation (Gatco) settlers and the landowners after the settlers were arrested again yesterday for forming a blockade.
DAP's Klang MP Charles Santiago said the government has to step in after 30 settlers were arrested yesterday, just a week after 28 settlers were also arrested for forming a blockade to prevent land owners from cutting down their rubber trees at the settlement in Bahau, Negri Sembilan.
“These villagers need not have been treated like random criminals,” Charles said, noting that a majority of those arrested were above 50 years old, with some of them being “grandmothers and grandfathers”.
“They are the disenfranchised poor, who have invested their time, effort, sweat and blood to develop the land that they believe is theirs,” he added.
The blockade came as there is an ongoing court case between the settlers and landowners Thamarai Holdings regarding the ownership of the land.
The former Gatco scheme saw the land being sold to Thamarai in the despite the settlers claiming they were offered the option to buy the land they were working on.
For the past month, the settlers have been forming blockades to prevent loggers from entering the plantation area.
“In this instance, the government must, at the very least, try to negotiate a feasible settlement that does not rip off the villagers,” he said.
