Perak to legalise prawn-farming industry

PANTAI REMIS: The Perak government is formulating a new policy to be introduced early next year to legalise its prawn-farming industry, state executive councillor Nga Kor Ming said.

The policy could ensure that the environment and the interests of the estimated 5,000 prawn farmers in the state were protected, he said.

Nga said the state government was especially concerned about the encroachment of such farmers into mangrove swamp areas, particularly in the Manjung district.

“The district is the biggest prawn producer in the state with an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 farms.

“But the encroachment into mangrove swamps there is causing an excessive negative impact on the environment,” said Nga, who is also state Education, Local Government, Housing and Public Transport Committee chairman.

The Pantai Remis assemblyman, who told reporters this after chairing a dialogue with local and Bagan Panchor fishermen on Saturday, said most prawn farms in the state were currently operating illegally.

“Some have temporary occupational licences but even then, the permission to use the land is for other purposes and not prawn farming,” he added.

He said that the Land and Mines Office had been instructed to conduct a study to find out how many farms there were in the state and to identify their locations.

“Part of the study is also to identify which zones are more suitable for prawn farming.

“We will also seek technical expertise and consult the Town and Country Planning Department before coming up with the policy.

“There is also need to study the National Land Code to see if land in each specific zone can be converted for purposes of prawn farming,” he said.