IPOH, Sept 24 — Perak is not considering a cable car at Bukit Larut, exco Tan Kar Hing said to dismiss renewed speculation.

The state tourism and culture committee chairman stressed that nothing has changed since he told the state assembly that such a project was not being planned or considered, despite a recent news report purporting of fresh interest.

"I have not received a single piece of paper about the cable car proposal,” he told Malay Mail today when asked to respond to the residents’ concerns.

"As of now, the state is still maintaining the stand that I made in the last state assembly(on Aug 9).”

Tan said at the time that the state would maintain the existing Land Rover service as the main transportation service for Bukit Larut.

Residents in Taiping held a press conference yesterday urging the state government to head off further talk of a cable car in Bukit Larut, after a Chinese vernacular newspaper purported of discussions between three firms and local authorities.

The residents insisted that the cable car and the resultant tourist traffic would harm the local flora and fauna, some of which were protected.

Tan agreed and said the original decision was made to protect and preserve the hill station’s natural beauty.

"It’s about preserving nature. We want to preserve the hill station as it is, with all the natural scenery available. Every development must have a low impact on the environment,” he had said.

Tan also said he would consider residents’ proposal for Bukit Larut to be gazetted as a state park and a national heritage site to prevent any further threats of excessive development, but explained that this will take time to study.