C
Cao Pi
Guest
Monday November 1, 2010
Villagers don’t want factories
MUAR: More than 400 residents in Kampung Tanjung Selabu here want the Johor government to act on the increasing number of factories and workers’ hostels in their village. Village community leader Lau Beng Lai said the village was once tranquil and beautiful, but has now been turned into a busy industrial site with hundreds of heavy vehicles entering and leaving the area daily.
He added that it was getting dangerous for school-going children who cycled to school. “This small village is regarded as one of the earliest settlements in the country. “It is said Parameswara lived here before discovering Malacca in 1401.
‘No’ to factories: Lau (fourth from right) and Azmi (second from right) with Tanjung Selabu villagers holding a banner to protest the building of factories in their village.
“However, now we have about 1,000 foreign workers living in some 10 hostels built by the factories in the surrounding areas,” he said yesterday. Lau and Tanjung Selabu Umno branch chairman Azmi Jawahir, held a peaceful protest with some of the villagers outside the entrances of the new factory sites. Lau claimed the village committee had written to the relevant authorities since 2007 on the existence of illegal factories in the village, but no action had been taken.
Azmi said the factories, which were mostly involved in making furniture, also emitted dust which affected the plantations and fruit orchards. He added that many fruit trees and crops which used to yield good harvests several years ago, now suffered from stunted growth and produced lower yields. “The truck drivers have little concern for the safety of the villagers.
During the Hari Raya holidays, a midwife, who was on her motorycle, was thrown off the vehicle when a truck did not give way. “The drains are clogged because the foreign workers throw their rubbish there. “We feel helpless and appeal to the authorities to put an end to our problems as soon as possible,” Azmi added.
