Last Updated: 5:47pm, Mar 04, 2014

NIBONG TEBAL (March 4): The state is coming up with laws to tighten the grip on stubborn pig and poultry farmers who refuse to take good care of their farms.

The two enactments, on pig rearing and poultry farming, will be introduced in the coming State Legislative Assembly in May, empowering local councils the right to shut down errant farms.

State Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry, Rural Development and Health Exco chairman Dr Afif Bahardin said the atrocity of several pig farms in the state is enough to put people off from eating pork meat.

“The condition of the farms is horrendous. If anyone who consumed pork saw these farms, they will probably stop eating the meat. In fact, a pig farmer who saw those farms told me he might stop eating pork.

“We are not accepting this attitude towards farm operation any more. Some of these farmers are very stubborn and refuse to change their mindset. They want to continue their farming style with no thought to hygiene.

“The farms are smelly and the faeces from the animals are simply washed into a drain that flows into the waterways,” he said, while adding that the problem was prevalent in Valdor and Kampung Selamat in Seberang Perai Selatan.

He said the pig and poultry enactments would streamline the current federal law which was ambiguous on the action to be taken by enforcement officers.

Speaking to reporters after handing out Hand, Foot and Mouth (HFM) vaccines to pig rearers, Afif said it was imperative that farmers switch to modern farming as it is cleaner and safer.

The vaccines which cost the state RM208,510 to purchase will be administered on 33,084 sows (female pig) in the state, said Afif.

He added that failure by farmers to inject the animals will result in the non-issuance of pig movement permits by the State Veterinary Department.

The vaccines have a 18-month shelf life and must be administered before next year, he said.

He stressed that Penang was the third largest pork exporter to other states in the country and also a transit for animals from the northern states and Thailand.

“Thus, if we slip, it will cause the entire flock to suffer. Even if diseased animals come from other states, Penang will still be faulted,” he said.

Afif said following the gazetting of the enactments, the farmers will be given a six-month grace period to spruce up before enforcement begins next year.

To a question, he said the cost to clean up and revamp the farms is not high. “These farmers are rich. It is not a question of money. It is just that they refuse to change and are not bothered,” he added.

Penang Pig Rearers Association chairman Tan Kwein Hin welcomed the law to punish stubborn farmers because the latter must learn their lesson.

“It is time the law comes down on these farmers. Out of 197 farms, there are about 10 farms that are very stubborn. Due to their attitude, the rest of us are faulted.

“They simply don’t care because they only want to make money. They rear so many pigs but don’t have a proper system to discharge the effluent,” said Tan.

He said the lack of firm legal action on these farmers in the past has made them fearless and indifferent to constant calls to practise hygienic methods.

“I hope the law shuts them down. Only then, they will learn their lesson. If one farm is closed down by the authorities, I am sure the others will get scared.

“They know how much they can lose if their farms are shut down. Pig farming is good business if you know how to manage,” said 56-year-old Tan who has been in the business since the age of 16 in Pantai Acheh.

Tan whose farm has about 15,000 pigs hopes to quit as the association’s chairman soon because he does not want to deal with some of the members who were quarrelsome.

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