The Environment Department (DOE) has ordered a palm oil plantation with ties to the Johor royal household to stop work after being caught supposedly clearing land without its approval.

In a parliamentary reply yesterday, Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said the department’s investigations found that AA Sawit Sdn Bhd had started developing a plantation in Endau, Johor, without an approved environmental impact assessment (EIA).