The flying TOLs of Cameron Highlands

FMT LETTER: From Ramakrishnan Ramasamy, via e-mail

The signboard at the entrance to the District Land office, stands forlorn, totally ignored by all around it. It has been standing there since 2008 proudly proclaiming the following:

Please be informed that all land applications for Grant titled land and Temporary Occupation Licenses have been frozen for the District of Cameron Highlands as per the decision made at the Exco Meeting Bil No 25/2008 on the 30th July 2008 for Temporary Occupation Licenses and Bil No 31/2008 on the 24th September 2008 for Grant titled land.

Anyone applying for new TOLs will be politely reminded of this decree. Even Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob will use this to defend the state government whenever hes asked by the media to explain illegal land clearing. We have not issued any new TOLs since 2008.

In 2008 as a response to wanton land clearing, the State Government to its credit came up with this ruling. One would have thought that with this, illegal land clearing would be more manageable. But the opposite happened.

Looking back, how can the opposite not happen with so many wolves in sheeps clothing at the local Land Office? An equivalent proverb in Malay would be harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi. It was during this period that the word Flying TOLs or TOL Terbang was coined.

In accordance with the Land Conservation Act 1960, farmers in Cameron Highlands were given TOL or Temporary Occupation License to work their land .Most of these TOLs were for two acres or slightly more for a period of one year to be renewed annually.

However farmers tend to farm more than their stipulated area and most of these would be adjacent to their original plot. Back then there were still land which were below 25 degrees gradient and deemed suitable for farming. However from 2005 these suitable areas were mostly used up and that was when the State Government came up with the above ruling.

For earth works to commence land clearing permits have to be issued first. Land clearing permits have to be referenced to a particular TOL and can only be issued by the Land Administrator and the top ranking Land Administrator in Cameron Highlands is the District Officer.

Now assuming all the old TOLs were used up and no new TOLs issued, then there should logically be no new land cleared for farming. But instead there was an explosion of them mainly in Kampung Raja, Kuala Terla and Manson Valley.

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The flying TOLs of Cameron Highlands