ALOR STAR: A property agent claims that her advertisement for the sale of 404ha logging site in Gunung Inas, Baling, for RM15 million is legitimate.
The agent said the valuation in the advertisement she uploaded onto Facebook was based on a 2022 quota allocated to the Kedah Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI).
"The logging site in Compartment 21 of Gunung Inas has been earmarked for logging," she said in text replies to the NST.
The agent said according to a lawyer that she was dealing with, the logging concession was awarded to the a company and the sale of timber allocated to the MBI.
However, the offer based on a letter purportedly from MBI dated on May 7, 2023 had lapsed when the company that won the contract failed to pay the RM1.92 million premium within 14 days of the issuance of the letter.
"Nevertheless, the offer is still valid and we invite any interested company with a sound financial record for discussions," she said.
Kedah Forestry Department director Muhamad Abdullah advised the public not to be hoodwinked by social media posts offering logging sites or timber for sale, believing that such posts were scams.
"The way the advertisement was written seemed wrong, probably (the work of) scammer, they want to make easy money.
"My advice to the public, don't easily be hoodwinked or misled. If they wish to clarify, they may refer with the Forestry Department, we are here to assist," he said when contacted.
He added that the department would look into the advertisement offering the Gunung Inas site.
According to the person who posted the listing, the trees at the Gunung Inas site are 40 years old.
Villagers in Kupang allege that extensive logging and the Musang King farm in Gunung Inas are behind the massive mudslide that gutted dozens of villages in the district on July 4, 2022.
The worst disaster in Baling's living memory killed three members of family in Kampung Iboi, destroyed 17 homes and damaged another 1,000.
The villagers have demanded that the state government shut down the durian farm.
However, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor had said investigations by the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry concluded that the massive mudslide was caused by geological factors.