Kedah Umno: Set up RCI on alleged rare earth theft in Bukit Enggang

 

Kedah Umno today expressed support for a call by environmental activists for Putrajaya to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the alleged illegal mining of rare earth elements (REE) at the Bukit Enggang Forest Reserve in Sik, Kedah.

This comes after Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor was said to not be taking the issue seriously when he dismissed that any such activity was happening in the forest reserve.

In a statement, Kedah Umno information chief Shaiful Hazizy Zainol Abidin said many locals in the area had urged for the alleged REE theft to be exposed to the public and they were unsatisfied with Sanusi’s responses to the matter.

“Villagers and community leaders around Bukit Enggang and local NGOs had expressed their concern over Sanusi’s lack of interest in the issue, where he denied there was any theft of REE in the area.

“This was when the villagers there had themselves noticed suspicious activities at the forest reserve, including the presence of foreigners and heavy machinery in the area.

“Fifty-two individuals had also been arrested over suspicion of being involved in illegal mining there, where they acted like they were protected,” he said.

Kedah Umno information chief Shaiful Hazizy Zainol Abidin

Shaiful said it was also suspicious of Sanusi to be satisfied with the RM630,000 fine meted out to those involved in a previous REE theft incident.

This was despite the stolen REE being estimated to be valued at hundreds of millions of ringgit, he added.

“If such theft were allowed to continue, it would definitely inflict financial loss on the state.

“Thus, I agree with the call for the government to set up an RCI to investigate the REE scandal at Bukit Enggang, so that the public would know what is really happening there,” he said.

On Saturday, NGOs that organised a protest over the REE issue at Bukit Enggang reportedly called for an RCI over the alleged theft of Kedah’s natural resources.

Their spokesperson, Yayasan Jariah Malaysia chairperson Mahadzir Abdul Hamid, said a thorough and transparent investigation is needed to make sure no stone is left unturned, including to uncover if there was any abuse of power and wrongdoing in the issue.

“The losses may be much bigger, it may have gone over hundreds of millions of ringgit because the theft had been going on for nearly two years.

“Thus, we would like to urge for an RCI or a special investigation tribunal to be set up to investigate this,” said Mahadzir, as quoted by Berita Harian. - Mkini