IPOH, Jan 4 — Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad believes it is worthwhile to revive a piece of former tin mining land to extract minerals for economic benefit even as local residents protest the government’s sudden land-clearing there last month.
Saarani was addressing local grievances raised by settlers over the December 29, 2023 land-clearing of the former tin mining land, located in the area of Pasir Panjang Ulu sub-district in Perak Tengah district and Kampung Gajah.
He said the clearing was lawful and only involved a small part of an oil palm plantation measuring 8.09 hectares as the land rightfully belongs to the state Menteri Besar Incorporated (MB Inc).
He added that it was carried out as the land will be developed into a tin mining project again due to the potential minerals that can still be explored.
“The potential minerals that can be explored would contribute to the state government.
“The current activities in the land do not bring any revenue to the state,” he told a press conference after attending the Progam Mesra Hari Bertemu Pelanggan at the Indera Mulia Stadium here today.
Saarani stressed that the state government has always been prudent in taking action against encroachers who carry out agricultural, livestock and fishing activities on the land owned by state or government-linked-companies (GLC).
“Therefore any allegations that the farmers were dealt with unjustly or were forcefully evicted is not true as MB Inc had been holding a series of direct negotiations with the settlers since 2021.
“MB Inc had also offered ex-gratia at a reasonable rate of RM2,000 per acre,” he said.
Malay daily Harian Metro reported last December 30 that more than 100 settlers of a former tin mining land around Kampung Tersusun Air Kuning, Kampung Gajah protested the state government’s action to allow the exploration of the area for new mining activities.
Kampung Tersusun Air Kuning committee Shuhaini Abdul Shukor, 46, said that the settlers felt cheated by the state government as their previous grant application for the land was rejected by the Kampung Gajah District and Land Office on the grounds that the area involved has the status of a bird island reserve.
“And now, all of a sudden we were informed that MB Inc. gave permission to the mining companies to enter with excavators.
“So we villagers felt like we’ve been cheated. They made this decision without our consent as the second generation to the original settlers,” he was quoted as saying.
Shuhaini said that the mining activities also had a negative impact on the livestock breeders, inland fishermen and Orang Asli of Kampung Chenderong Kelubi.
