IPOH, June 14 — Environmentalist groups were opposed to the use of crucial forest reserve land for Perak’s lanthanide mining and not to the project itself, Sahabat Alam Malaysia field officer Meor Razak Meor Abdul Rahman said today.

Urging the state government to move the project out of the Kenderong Forest Reserve in Hulu Perak were located at the Central Forest Spine (CFS), Meor Razak said the location served as a vital movement corridor for local fauna and was classified as rank 1 environmentally sensitive area (ESA), the category of highest importance.

“Disturbing the CFS will affect and damage the wildlife inhabitants and will cause the extinction of protected creatures such as tigers, elephants, sun bears, tapirs and deer, which are invaluable.

“Also, the existing law does not allow any mining or logging or development to be conducted at environmental sensitive areas rank 1 except for low- impact ecotourism or research work,” he told a press conference at the residence of Perak Opposition leader in Pengkalan Tiara.

Meor Razak also questioned how the authorities approved the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the project despite the National Physical Plan (Index Plan) clearly stated that such projects are prohibited at rank 1 ESAs.

He also noted that the construction work for the project commenced even before the EIA report was approved, with land clearing starting as far back as 2019 while building work started in 2020.

“Only in 2021 was the EIA sought, and it was rejected on the basis that the project would harm wildlife inhabitants and the ecosystem.

“However, in May 2022, the EIA was approved. About five per cent or 100 hectares out of 2,161 hectares were already cleared for the project,” he said.

On June 11, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad clarified that the images displayed via satellite were of old structures that involved preliminary works such as the construction of roads and pond catchments for tin ore had been carried out long before he was appointed mentri besar.

Saarani said the construction work for ore mining was stopped in January last year due to the discovery of lanthanide.

Meor Razak today said the MB should instead stop all work at the area immediately and preserve and restore the area if the mining project was approved before he was appointed as the state leader and not approve another similar project at the same place.

Meanwhile, Perak Opposition Leader Abdul Aziz Bari questioned the MB’s justification that the project was proposed in order to increase the state revenue.

“We did not object to any development or projects that could increase the revenue to the state. However, the question now is why was such a project, which could cause so much damage to the environment, approved in the name of increasing revenue?

“Who are the beneficiaries from the project? What is the use for the people there from the project?” he said when alleging cronyism.