Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has denied admitting that most of the illegal mining sites in the country are in the state.
This comes after Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof revealed that a total of 60 illegal mining sites were detected across the country, with a majority of them reported to be in Kedah.
Fadillah said Sanusi admitted this to be true during the national mineral council meeting yesterday.
Citing the statement by Fadillah, Sanusi said the former misunderstood information conveyed by him.
Sanusi stressed that he does not intend to reveal the country’s secret but merely take the responsibility to correct viral misinformation following a press conference by Fadillah, who chaired the meeting yesterday.
“The 60 illegal mines that I mentioned are (information) from agency sources, which was conveyed to me… they are not concentrated in Kedah, but the whole country.
“This was admitted to be true by the Natural Resources, Environment And Climate Change Ministry secretary-general,” Sanusi said in a Facebook post yesterday.
Referring to a “famous” illegal mine in Kedah which had previously garnered media attention, Sanusi confirmed that legal actions have been taken against those involved.
“(Those responsible for) the ‘famous’ illegal mine in Kedah had been nabbed and charged.
“This means that the ones still operating are at other places, not ‘an enormous number’ in Kedah,” said Sanusi.
On April 13, a group of 40 people, including five Malaysians, were charged at the Sessions Court with trespassing into Bukit Enggang Forest Reserves in Sik district in January.
It was reported in January that the state Forestry Department had arrested 52 people on suspicion of being involved in the illegal mining of non-radioactive rare earth element mineral resources in the Bukit Enggang Forest Reserve. - Mkini
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