MB Inc: Land clearing near Bukit Kledang illegal
IPOH: Menteri Besar Perak Incorporated (MB Inc) has confirmed that the land clearing activity near Bukit Kledang was illegal and a stop-work order has been issued against it.
Its chief executive officer, Anuar Zainal Abidin, on Thursday said checks in the area, which affected 10 hectares of the land, involved half of the land owned by MB Inc.
“Investigation shows that illegal settlers have planted palm oil trees. Besides the MB Inc land, the state government land is also affected.
“The state Forestry Department confirmed that the affected MB Inc and state government lands are not located within the Kledang Siong Forest Reserve. In fact, Kledang Siong has never been gazetted as a forest reserve.”
Following Thursday’s check, Anuar said the state Land and Mines Office had instructed all the land clearing and planting work to stop and that an investigation had started.
“The state Land and Mines Office has also instructed all the responsible quarters to restore the affected area. The last time MB Inc conducted checks in Bukit Kledang was on Jan 19 and there was no illegal activity being carried out,” he said.
Anuar said MB Inc was planning to develop a mixed property project in the area to offer residential homes for the people besides avoiding the government-owned land from being exploited by illegal settlers.
He said MB Inc regretted the incident as the land clearing was detected after the menteri besar made an announcement to form a committee to combat encroachment on state-owned land.
On Wednesday, an English daily reported that members of the public had raised questions with the state Forestry Department and non-governmental organisations about the condition of Bukit Kledang.