Selangor government fails in its duty over plight of farmers - Noh Omar

The Selangor government has failed in its duty in maintaining the irrigation system that led to floods affecting over 40 hectares of paddy since early January, said Tanjong Karang member of parliament Tan Sri Noh Omar.

As such, he said Selangor Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali should not be proud of the state's high reserves when the plight of farmers and paddy planters continued to be neglected.

"We cannot avoid heavy rain but it is the responsibility of the state government to clean up and maintain the irrigation system. The thing is, do they have the budget for that? If they do, why the floods and damaged crops?

"The federal government only provides infrastructure and the main (paddy) canal. Where is the duty of the state government which is supposed to care for its people?" he asked when met by reporters.

Noh said the majority of the affected farmers and paddy planters were the young people and this showed that this age bracket were now interested in agriculture.

The spirit shown by the young farmers and paddy planters must be taken care of and further assisted to encourage more such people to get involved in the sector seriously, he added.

Earlier, Noh handed over assistance from the Tanjong Karang Parliamentary Agricultural Development Council worth RM82,510 to 118 farmers and paddy planters affected by floods.

-- BERNAMA