The Sabah Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Ministry should explore compensation or subsidies for farmers whose crops sustained wildlife damage, says an assemblyman.

“Currently, there is no subsidy, but how can we address this?” Kuamut representative Datuk Masiung Banah told reporters on the sidelines of the state assembly sitting here Tuesday (Nov 19).

“Often, before farmers can harvest, elephants arrive first, consuming the paddy and damaging the palm trees. These crops are their primary income,” he added.

Banah, who is also Sabah Housing and Urban Development Board (LPPB) chairman, urged the state government to consider support programmes for small-scale farmers affected by human-wildlife conflicts.

“It is unfair to our communities. We are taught not to harm these animals, yet if they damage our crops, there is no recourse.

“We understand these incidents are beyond our control. While we can try to chase the animals away, we cannot harm them because they are protected,” he said.

Banah acknowledged the efforts by the Sabah Wildlife Department to educate locals on managing such incidents, but each year, elephants enter villages and damage crops and property.

“Animals are not like people, they do not understand if we try to scare them away. They are just looking for food,” he said, noting that the situation had worsened over the past four years.

According to him, the most frequently affected were smallholdings ranging from 0.8ha to 2ha (two to five acres) in size, and the losses were significant.

Another assemblyman, Datuk Mokran Ingkat, urged the authorities to repair the bridge connecting Kampung Lalasong and Kampung Tanjung Pisau in his constituency of Sungai Manila.

He said students cross the river daily to get to school and back, and the bridge should be repaired before any incidents occur as the crocodile population is steadily increasing.

Source - www.thestar.com.m