President Datuk Patrick Sindu of the Consumer Association of Sabah and Labuan said unless the government was able to enforce all regulations effectively, it would be best to set up a pig farm equipped with facilities for an integrated operation.

According to NST, the integrated pig farm should be located away from human settlements so that communities don't suffer when livestock breeders flout the laws and discharge effluents into waterways.

Referring to the problems faced by the residents of Kampung Purak in Papar who were demanding that the government put a halt to pig farming in their village, Sindu said the issue should have been dealt with when it was first brought to the attention of the authorities three years ago.

Villagers who are at their wits' end had complained last week to Sindu and the authorities about their plight, claiming that the government had failed to resolve the matter despite numerous pleas to do so.

Kawang assemblyman Datuk Ghulam Haidar Khan said he was told that the matter was now in the hands of the state Attorney-General's chambers and although he would like to see the farm closed, there were legal implications.

The Papar district council, the Water Department and the Environmental Protection Department had ordered the farm to cease operations but the farm owner had subsequently given a written submission to a land inquiry organised in June by Papar district officer Iman Ali and stated the reasons the government could not enter the land as it would be a breach of the land title conditions.

An Environmental Protection Department survey conducted several years ago found that there were about 70 pig farms in operation in Sabah and that distribution of farms was controlled by domestic market forces.

The same survey recommended that one way to mitigate impacts of pig farms was for the government to secure the location of pig rearing centres to ensure better control of its environment.