THE forest status of 465.75 hectares of land belonging to Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and a supermarket site in Jengka, about 100km from Kuantan, has been revoked, said Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail.

He said it was revoked by state authorities in accordance with Section 13 of the National Forestry Act, with the notification of the revocation made through the Pahang government gazette dated December 11 last year.

“The revocation of the forest land status means the forest land behind the UiTM campus and the supermarket site in Jengka is no longer part of the Jengka Forest Reserve,” he told the state assembly today in response to a question on the status of the land by Shahril Azman Abd Halim (PAS-Jengka).

He said the forest status was revoked to enable better and well-planned development to be implemented to improve the economy of the locals and in the Maran district in general.

Meanwhile, Pahang Felda affairs, cooperatives, entrepreneur and consumer affairs committee chairman Nazri Ngah said settlers in Bukit Goh, Kuantan, who are facing action by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) for allegedly failing to pay their taxes for their involvement in bauxite mining, should refer to their agreement with the operator involved.

“If the agreement says the operator will pay the tax, then it can be referred to the operator who leased the settler’s land. This can be discussed with a lawyer to determine who should pay the tax, whatever action, we have to study the agreement,” he added.

Nazri was responding to a question by Md Sohaimi Mohamed Shah (BN-Sg Lembing) on the plight of the settlers who no longer receive income from bauxite mining following a moratorium imposed on January 15, 2016.

However, Nazri said bauxite mining has been allowed subject to strict conditions, including deposit payment of RM5 million, which also includes payment for guarantee bonds, to ensure the pollution problem, which led to the implementation of the moratorium, will not happen again.

“The state government has offered two contractors to carry out this activity but until today, they have not paid the deposit. If they do not pay until the end of this month, then we will retract the offer,” he added. – Bernama, November 19, 2020.