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'We have the EIA,' says company behind Gunung Inas Musang King project

BALING: The company that allegedly operates the Musang King durian plantation in Gunung Inas here claimed that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the site has already been carried out.

"Yes, we have the EIA (report)," said the company's spokesman who wanted to remain anonymous.

However, the spokesman said he did not have further information on whether the EIA was for 'Musang King' plantation or forest farming activity.

"I do not have the details. All I know is that my employer told me that the EIA had been carried out by the project's previous owner," he said when contacted.

He explained that the project was not directly awarded to the company.

"My employer bought over the project from another company that was awarded the project several years back. My employer said the previous company had carried out the EIA on the project. That is all I know," he said.

He however declined to comment on claims that their 'Musang King' plantation activities had contributed to the massive floods in Kupang, which inundated 12 villages.

"We have nothing to say on these claims. All we know is that we are not involved in the logging activities.

"The timber (in the area) has already been cleared for more than 10 years, before my employer bought over this site," he said.

He refused to elaborate and cited the sensitivity of the matter for his reluctance.

On Thursday, Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor threw a poser on whether the joint-venture company which developed the 'Musang King' durian plantation in Gunung Inas carried out an EIA before going ahead with the project.

Sanusi was reported saying that getting the EIA approval would require strict compliance by the project, including disallowing any development project at a height of 300 metres above sea level.

He had said that the doubts prompted his administration to issue the company with a stop-work order in July 2020.

However, Sanusi had said that in 2007, the state government had given approval to Aman Mega Sdn Bhd to develop a rubber plantation but the company failed to carry on with the project in 2008.

As such, he said former menteri besar, the late Tan Sri Azizan Abdul Razak had decided that the company had no right to the logs that it had felled.

Subsequently, Kedah Agro was tasked to plant rubber trees covering some 161ha of the compartment after Aman Mega abandoned the project.

In 2013, after the change of state government, the plantation was halted and the land ownership exchanged hands with a condition that it must be jointly-developed with Kedah Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI) with some penalties involved.

Meanwhile, former Kedah menteri besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir said it was important to understand that clear felling was done in forest reserves by the Pas government in Kedah between 2008 and 2013 just as it was done in Kelantan.

"Both the Ladang Sejahtera project in Kedah, and Ladang Rakyat project in Kelantan were not properly executed in that the replanting of rubber wood, trees for commercial logging or even Musang King was not done as initially proposed.

"In Kedah, it was the subsequent state governments that started replanting works," Mukhriz said in a written reply to the NST.

Mukhriz added that it was also important to acknowledge that it was not the replanting that caused erosion of soil leading to floods.

"Although terracing of land for planting does contribute to some erosion, it is the act of clear felling that is the prime cause of rain water flowing freely on exposed soil into rivers," he said.

Affected residents and non-governmental bodies including Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) have called on the government to form an independent commission to investigate the incident thoroughly.

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