Pahang regent wants mining activities at Tasik Chini to stop

 

Pahang regent Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah wants a stop to the mining activities at Tasik Chini.

Comptroller of the Pahang royal household Ahmad Khirrizal Ab Rahman said the regent held a surprise visit to the site on June 13.

He added that Tengku Hassanal had also scrutinised Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail's report on the mining activities around Tasik Chini and the state government's efforts to rehabilitate the area.

Following this, he said Tengku Hassanal decreed that the state government defends Tasik Chini's status as a Unesco Biosphere Reserve, which environmentalists have warned is under threat due to pollution degradation from mining and logging activities.

"His Majesty called for all mining activities in the Tasik Chini area to cease,"  Ahmad Khirrizal said in a statement today.

Ahmad Khirrizal added that the regent cares about environmental conservation in the state and wants good environmental, social and governance practices to be in place.

Tengku Hassanal also wants rehabilitation efforts at Tasik Chini to be expedited and called for federal funding to preserve the area.

He said that former mining sites there should be replanted with suitable trees.

He also backed the Pahang government, which said it had not issued new mining licences since 2019.

On June 3, Malaysiakini reported that Hanishah Ventures Sdn Bhd, a royalty-linked firm, was seeking to commence a new mining operation around 3km away from Tasik Chini.

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the project listed Tengku Nong Fatimah Sultan Ahmad Shah, who is the regent's aunt and Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah's sister, as the contact person.

Tengku Hassanal is acting as the Pahang regent while his father serves as the Agong.

Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) documents showed the firm was co-owned by Raja Shah Zurin Raja Aman Shah and Tengku Hanizar Tengku Muhammad.

Raja Shah Zurin is an actor and cousin of Kelantan ruler Sultan Muhammad V, while Tengku Hanizar is the aunt of the Agong, who is also the Pahang ruler.

It is not clear whether Hanishah Ventures received its mining licence before or after 2019, but efforts to commence mining operations started this year.

According to the EIA, the state government approved the mining project by granting it an exemption, even though mining activities were not allowed in the area as it is categorised as an environmentally sensitive area.

This led environmentalists to question the Pahang government's commitment to rehabilitate Tasik Chini and its surrounding area, something which it had touted to do so in recent years.

In the royal statement today, Ahmad Khirrizal said the Pahang regent wants integrated enforcement action between the state and federal governments around Tasik Chini.

"His Majesty decreed that everyone regardless of background - be it government, private sector, NGOs and local residents - have a role to play in preserving the flora and fauna of the Tasik Chini area as well as the nearby Orang Asli communities," he added. - Mkini