Menteri besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said the discussion would help safeguard state interests, ensure public wellbeing, and optimise state revenue.

“This issue should not be polemicised or viewed strictly through the lens of commercial profit.

“It must be understood in the broader context of environmental management, flood mitigation, industrial sustainability, economic development, and state revenue,” Bernama reported him as saying in his winding-up speech at the state assembly at Wisma Sri Pahang today.

On May 8, the Tengku Mahkota of Pahang, Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah, expressed disappointment over the federal government’s ban on river sand exports, saying it had affected state revenue.

Tengku Hassanal said Pahang, which has the longest river in Peninsular Malaysia, has substantial sand deposits that need dredging to ensure smooth river flow and prevent flooding.

He said the state previously generated tens of millions of ringgit in revenue through sand exports to other countries, but the federal government has since banned the practice, despite land and sand resources falling under state jurisdiction.