( 2ft wide concrete beam cut across the Dg)
( the beam narrowed down the size of the Dg and it obstructs the Birds) .
Reach Ipoh at about 12 noon the owner had called me earlier asking where was I. It was very nice of him coming all the way to the highway and waited for me at the road shoulder.
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As I passed by the junction to Simpang Pulai, I spotted his car and followed him. He leaded me all the way to his farm.
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I had met him a week earlier in K.L for tea where I explained to him how a good farm should be and what a good farm should have. This was the moment he discovered that his farm was in a mess.
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He had engaged a well know consultant for consultation and the advice was everything is fine and ok. He even showed a small replica model farm house to him and he approved the whole design sighted no problem. That is not all, the consultant had visited the farm numerous time.
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The farm is more than 80% completed now it is only for planks installation. This owner was very unlucky not only his farm’s design was totally out the nesting planks that he had bought was not what he had paid for. He has not realized it until the second comments came from his own Burmese workers who are doing the planks installation. Coincidentally the Burmese worker had worked in a Sawmill before in Burma.
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One of the Burmese workers told him that in Burma this type of wood would be thrown away or use as fire wood. Sad …sad..sad….
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The week before he showed a sample of Meranti planks that he had bought for comments, I told him if I were him I wouldn’t have bought it. He claimed that he bought it for Rm 3k per ton excluding transportation and lines engraving. He had bought it from a Sawmill recommended by a good friend. They convinced him that this is the best type of Meranti at that moment he thought he had got a good deal and was very happy.
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I knew if I comment further it would be like adding salt on wound. I knew very well he was being cheated. I wouldn’t pay anything more than Rm 1600.00 including transportation and engraving for such grade.
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This was what the owner told me, “James when you commented that my Planks were not the right type I didn’t feel so bad. Until my worker tells me that this types of plank in Burma they throw it away or use as fire wood”.
His farm was located on the top floor of a light industry lot which is above his office. He had converted it into a two storey farm. To him this is his dream farm.
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The length of the farm is only 60ft being such length the Dg shouldn’t be located at the middle. He had initially wanted the Dg at the end of the building but his consultant advised that the middle would be appropriate.
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I was speechless when I saw the dg, a 2 ft wide beam cut across the dg in the middle. How could this happen? Didn’t the consultant have basic knowledge of swiftlet farming?
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This is not all, he claimed that the initial interhole between floors was 2 xs2ft right below the dg he find it strange and decided to enlarge to 4x4ft.
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Right below the dg a concrete slap in the middle of the dg shaft was constructed to cover half of the dg sighted birds love small entrance to the 1st floor.
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There are so many errors, that I wanted to ask the owner to demolish the whole thing and build it again but looking at his face I pity him. He had spent so much effort and has high hope on this farm to ask him to do so it would be like suicidal.
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Never mind I will help him that was what I am there for. I tried to minimize the hacking and keep the cost in mind lowest as possible. As I can’t do much about the beam thingy so I am using other ways to create a good environment that liked by swiftlets as the current design is anti swiftlet staying and nesting. Removing the beam the whole building may collapse.
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It is a dirty job but someone has to do it. Revamping farm is a tough job and not easy. It is a left over shit by the first consultant that now I have to clean.
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After visited so many farms by looking at the way those guys building and designing farms I bet the rate of 80% failed would reach 90% or more in a short period of time.
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Good Farming All!
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