Landowners Allow Foreigners to Manage Their Land in Janda Baik

BENTONG: At least three factors have been identified as contributing to the growing presence of foreigners in Janda Baik, particularly those involved in agricultural activities as a source of income.

Bentong Member of Parliament Young Shefura Othman said one of the main factors was absentee landowners entrusting the management of their properties to foreigners.

“Some landowners allow and trust foreigners to look after their properties, as we know many landowners in Janda Baik live elsewhere.

“When landowners live outside the area and rarely return, they rely on people in the village to maintain their properties and cultivate the land to generate income.

“In some cases, landowners collaborate with other individuals, including foreigners, to manage their land through arrangements such as profit-sharing,” she told BH.

Young Shefura said an operation conducted by the Immigration Department in April resulted in the arrest of 38 undocumented migrants.

She acknowledged that the issue of foreigners in Janda Baik was complicated, as some were employed by chalet and resort owners.

“Some foreigners have also become comfortable living here and have begun expanding their communities and economic networks, including through agricultural activities,” she said.

She added that while some foreigners cultivated land with the owners’ permission, others were involved in illegal land clearing in Janda Baik.

“There have also been cases of land being cleared without permission, including forest areas,” she said, adding that rehabilitation programmes had previously been carried out with the Forestry Department to restore affected areas.

“This has indeed happened, and every year we conduct replanting programmes to rehabilitate identified areas near villages.

“However, the actual extent of illegally cleared land cannot be determined because Janda Baik covers a large area. Nevertheless, illegal land clearing does occur,” she said.

Stricter Enforcement

Young Shefura said enforcement efforts must continue to ensure illegally cleared land is no longer used and to prevent widespread forest clearing.

She said the Forestry Department had carried out several replanting initiatives after identifying and reclaiming areas that had been illegally converted into farms.

In a related development, Young Shefura said compliance among landowners and resort operators also required attention, following allegations that some premises had violated land-use regulations.

She added that the regularisation process currently being undertaken by local authorities was aimed at identifying premises that breached regulations before reviewing their land-use status.

“Landowners must fulfil their responsibilities and should not completely hand over the management of their land to others without proper supervision.

“To me, that responsibility is the most important thing. If negligence, irregularities or disasters occur, they too will be affected,” she said.

She also urged residents and other stakeholders in Janda Baik to report any known cases of trespassing or illegal land clearing to the authorities.

Young Shefura stressed that consistent enforcement was essential to ensure development and activities in the area did not harm the environment or undermine Janda Baik’s status as a traditional village and tourist destination.

Berita Harian