Perlis reaffirms stand against planting of ketum trees

ARAU: The Perlis state government has reaffirmed its stand to prohibit any quarters, including private landowners, from planting ketum trees in the state.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azlan Man said any landowners, especially those with newlyacquired land title, would face possible revocation of the title if ketum trees were found to be planted on the land.

“The state government views seriously the issue of ketum tree planting, and is of the opinion that the plant brings more harm than good, especially ( ketum juice) addiction among the young people in the state, including students.

“Therefore, any claims saying that the state government intends to allow the cultivation of the plant by not taking decisive measures on this matter should not arise again,” said Azlan.

He said this to reporters after the ‘ Kembara Seindah Syawal 2016’ programme organised by the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) at the Pauh state assemblyman’s service centre here, yesterday.

Azlan was clarifying the matter after some misunderstanding about his previous statement regarding the planting of ketum trees, which had become a hot topic of discussion on social networking sites.

“It was said that traditionally ketum leaves were used to treat a number of diseases such as diarrhea, but today, it has been widely misused, causing those consuming the juice to become addicted, and this included teenagers and even children under the age of 12,” he said.

Azlan said he had yet to come across any book or medical journal scientifically certifying that ketum could be used as medicine.

In fact, he said he did not know of any pharmaceutical company from within or outside the country which required ketum leaves to produce medicines.

As such, he advised the NCIA to conduct a scientific study on the benefits of ketum leaves, or look at alternative cash crops which did not cause harm to the people.

Earlier at the ceremony, Azlan, who is also Pauh assemblyman, handed out daily necessities donated by NCIA to 102 poor families in the state constituency. — Bernama