Perak state government loses millions due to illegal land clearing

(Bernama) – More than 17,000 hectares of land in Perak have been illegally cleared, resulting in the state government losing hundreds of millions of ringgit in revenue.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said the illegal activity was believed to be done in a planned manner by certain groups.

“It is not some small activity, there are areas where the activity is done in a syndicate manner,” he told reporters after the “Selamat Pagi Perak Bersama Menteri Besar” programme over PerakFM here today.

He said besides the Land and Mines Office, the enforcement now involved the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

“There may have been weaknesses before in enforcement resulting in it now being rampant, and there wasn’t a good mechanism to control this from happening,” he said.

Zambry said various steps were being taken to overcome the problem including identifying the affected areas and legal action which could be taken against those responsible.

He said there were several cases where the responsible parties were identified but managed to escape.