PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Haji Takiyuddin Hassan speaks during a press conference at the party's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur September 29, 2023. — Picture By Raymond Manuel
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 — PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan has urged the authorities to act against a gold-mining company in Kelantan if it didn’t have the correct paperwork to mine the land.
Takiyuddin said Akademi Yakin Sdn Bhd (AYSB) should be reprimanded if it had conducted mining activities before receiving its environment impact assessment (EIA).
AYSB’s board of directors comprised five members, including former deputy Kelantan menteri besar Datuk Mohd Amar Abdullah, Kelantan state government financial officer Norazman Abdul Ghani, PAS secretary-general and Kota Baru MP Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, Yakin director Shamsul Abu Bakar, and Kadok assemblyman Azami Mohd Nor.
Takiyuddin said he was a nominee director only for AYSB, meaning he did not receive any monetary gains from it.
“All the money went to the state government. I was on the board as a nominee to find investors for the company and to eventually make it profitable, as I was also in the Kelantan state exco at the time.
“AYSB is a subsidiary of the state and that’s why the deputy menteri besar and other state excos were in it. It became an investment arm for the state.
“So I did not make any money from it. AYSB needed to mine the areas it was allocated for gold. We signed an agreement with mining contractors where they were required to adhere to state laws on mining.
“So if it does not have an EIA, charge the company. They are not the concession holders, and they should be responsible for their actions. We won’t tolerate any breaches of the law,” he told reporters today at PAS headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
A Department of Environment report dated September 4 said that AYSB is collaborating with Dazr Holding Sdn Bhd in a joint venture to mine gold.
The report also found that mining activities had commenced before proper approvals were obtained, leading to the Land Office issuing a corrective notice to AYSB in December 2021, criticising its pre-emptive operations or mining before the EIA was approved.
