Kelantan govt’s ignorance of iron ore mining activity near Orang Asli settlement ‘absurd’, says deputy minister
Deputy Minister of Water, Land and Natural Resources Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji today said that it was impossible for the Kelantan state government to be unaware that there was an iron ore mining area near the settlement of Orang Asli of Batek tribe in Kuala Koh, Gua Musang.
(MMO) – He also described Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah’s statement denying the existence of the mining area as utterly absurd because the ministry’s check had found that the miner had obtained the licence to run the mining operation until 2023.
“Before any mining company is allowed to operate, they are required to obtain a mining licence from the state government and an operating licence from the federal government. Or else, they will be categorised as illegal miners.
“Upon checking, we found that the mining company had obtained the mining licence until 2023… but the operating licence issued by the federal government had been terminated in 2017 as the company failed to comply with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report.
