COMMENT | Are the worries of vegetable farmers in Cameron Highlands over? Or is the new arrangement by the Pahang state government an indirect takeover of their agricultural land?

These are the nagging questions that have arisen after vegetable farmers reluctantly agreed, after years of a tug-of-war with the state government, politicians and middle persons.

Cameron Highlands farmers have for long groaned and cried out for the security of the tenure of their farming land. They are the ones who grow and harvest most of the vegetables that Malaysians eat but they remain deprived of land rights in perpetuity – no matter for how long they have toiled on the land.

For decades, the farmers had been victims – almost a bondage – to the Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL) system which involved, in some cases, middle persons.

The TOL needs to be renewed annually and the farmers are at the mercy of ...