PETALING JAYA: Former Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah has explained his approval for a durian farm in Baling, saying it was to ensure tree replanting.
He said he approved the proposal by ECK Development Sdn Bhd during his tenure as his intention was to ensure logging activities would no longer take place on Gunung Inas in Baling.
“The approval was never meant to encourage logging. Logging activities has been going on previously,” he said in a Facebook post.
Bashah was responding to a statement by former mentri besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, who claimed a Kedah government company was first entrusted to plant durian trees on the mountain during Bashah’s term.
“We do not need to politicise this issue. Stop pointing fingers at one another and take immediate action,” Bashah stressed.
The Musang King durian farm on Gunung Inas was said to have contributed to the floods which inundated a village and forced the evacuation of more 1,000 people on July 4.
