Forest plantation projects in Piah Forest Reserve advised to switch to suitable location

 

The Perak Forestry Department has suggested that the three companies involved in forest plantation development projects in Piah Forest Reserve near Lenggong switch to a more suitable location.

Perak Menteri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu said the suggestion was made after the state forestry department received objections from residents of three nearby villages.

He said that all three companies had previously had their permits approved for their 400-hectare forest plantation development projects in the area near Mukim Temelong and Mukim Kota Tampan.

The approval was an initial approval subject to a suitability report that would be prepared by the district forest office and the approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), he added.

“Currently, the district forest office is preparing the suitability report and social impact assessment while the company has yet to prepare the EIA report.

"The department, however, realised the objections by three villages located near the approved area,” he said after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Pusat Aspirasi Anak Perak and Sekretariat Usahawan Perak with telecommunications company redONE Network Sdn Bhd at Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan today.

He said this after being asked about claims that Piah Forest Reserve was being destroyed due to logging activities that have gone viral on social media recently.

Ahmad Faizal elaborated that the state had consulted the residents of the affected villages and while two villages agreed with the project, while another village still disagreed.

In other developments, Ahmad Faizal said that he had yet to receive the Perak Mineral and Geoscience Department’s report regarding limestone hillslopes at risk of rockfalls in the state.

Ahmad Faizal had on Wednesday issued instructions to step up monitoring of all limestone hillslopes for any risk of rockfalls in Perak immediately following a landslide that killed two people at a tourist resort in Tambun on Nov 17.

- Bernama