Company agrees to lease 24ha of land to Viatak

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PUBLIC-listed company Gopeng Bhd has agreed to lease 24ha of land in Kota Baru, Gopeng, to fish-and-duck breeder Viatak Enterprise Sdn Bhd for five years, with an option of extending for another five years.

The cost of the lease will only be decided next week.

However, Viatak director Leong Yew Seong, said the company was sticking to its request for a 20-year lease.

“We want to safeguard our interest,” he said when contacted by MetroPerak last Friday.

Roaming free: The ducks reared by Viatak in Kota Baru, Gopeng.

Leong said he would meet Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir tomorrow to seek his help.

Last Wednesday, Leong and his father Yew Tuck met with three representatives of Gopeng Bhd in a meeting that was arranged to sort out the dispute over the land. The meeting was chaired by a senior official from the Land and Mines Department in Ipoh.

Leong said the Land and Mines Department would use a formula to calculate the lease for the land.

Describing the meeting last week as cordial, Leong said Gopeng Bhd had also agreed not to dismantle the fencing put up by Viatak.

Viatak’s problem started last year when it was requested by Gopeng Bhd to vacate the 24ha site that it had been operating on for the past four decades. The 24ha site is part of 961ha that was granted to Gopeng Bhd in 2009.

The matter came to the attention of Dr Zambry, who personally asked Gopeng Bhd to give Viatak due consideration since the fish- and-duck breeder was a major contributor to food production in the state.