State executive councilor Nga Kor Ming informed that the Perak government is formulating a new policy to be introduced early next year to legalise its prawn-farming industry. He also told that the policy could ensure that the environment and the interests of the estimated 5,000 prawn farmers in the state were protected.
According to Nga the state government was especially concerned about the encroachment of such farmers into mangrove swamp areas, particularly in the Manjung district, the biggest prawn producer in the state with an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 farms. Nga also opined that the encroachment into mangrove swamps there is causing an excessive negative impact on the environment.
The Pantai Remis assemblyman, after chairing a dialogue with local and Bagan Panchor fishermen on Saturday, told the press that most prawn farms in the state were currently operating illegally. He added that some have temporary occupational licences but even then, the permission to use the land is for other purposes and not prawn farming. He also told 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.
