IPOH, Feb 8 — The three limestone hills – Gunung Terundum, Gunung Rapat and Gunung Lanno – in Batu Gajah, where quarrying activities have been going on, have been gazetted as the Mineral/Rock Basic Industry Economic Zone in the Batu Gajah District Council Local Plan 2025.
Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Saarani Mohamad said most of the caves located in the three hills were on the property of quarry operators and were not listed in the Kinta Valley Geopark which has 18 geosites and all of them are not located within the quarrying activities.
“The limestone quarrying industry is one of the biggest contributors to Perak’s economy and it started around 1970 with most quarries owned by private companies on lease and operating for about 50 years,” he said in a statement here today.
Yesterday, Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia president, Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil urged the Perak government to intervene in the issue of Gunung Lanno which will increasingly be threatened when the area is made a quarrying zone.
On Feb 5, Kinta Valley Watch activist Ching Boon Tat also expressed concern that Gunung Lanno would receive the same fate as Gunung Terendum as a result of the quarrying work.
According to Saarani, the quarry industry is constantly monitored by responsible agencies such as the Lands and Mines Department, Department of Minerals and Geosciences, Department of Environment, Department of Occupational Safety and Health, the police and Batu Gajah District Council.
Quarry owners are also required to submit an Environmental Impact Assessment report when operating the quarry industry, he added. — Bernama
