Axe falls on logging site next to forest reserve

 

An aerial view of the logging site taken yesterday with the Karak Highway on the right. (Peka pic)

PETALING JAYA: A logging site adjacent to the Lentang forest reserve in Bentong, Pahang, was ordered to cease operations today by the Pahang state forestry department due to “public interest” and other factors.

Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil, who heads the Association for the Protection of Natural Heritage of Malaysia (Peka), told FMT that the area, which is on a hill located above the Karak Highway, has a history of landslides.

She also noted the numerous tremors recorded in the area, which is along a fault line.

In a letter from the Pahang forestry director Mohd Hizamri Mohd Yasin to the landowner, all relevant permits and licences required to log the 3.59 hectare site were revoked today.

There is also a road to the site that cuts through the forest reserve.

In the letter sighted by FMT, Hizamri said the landowner was not allowed to transport the timber pile in the area and had to ensure that the road leading to the site was cleaned up so as not to cause any pollution or any other unwanted incidents.

A close-up view of the logging site taken yesterday. (Peka pic)

Speaking to FMT, Shariffa noted that the area was “fragile” and logging was “very dangerous”.

“In the first place, how did the landowner get a grant for land in the middle of a forest reserve?” she asked.

“How can you give permission for people to go right inside there and make roads?”

When contacted by FMT, an officer from the Pahang forestry department confirmed that the area that was being logged was private property, but the roads leading to it are part of the Lentang forest reserve.

Videos of the logging site’s discovery recently went viral on social media, and among those visiting the area last weekend included Ketari assemblywoman Young Syefura Othman.

Speaking to FMT, she noted that the Regent of Pahang, Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah, stressed the need for the state to practise environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles during the opening of the state assembly sitting last month.

“I really hope the state government takes this suggestion by Tuanku seriously and re-evaluates the SOPs needed to maintain environmental sustainability, especially that of Pahang’s forest reserves,” she said. - FMT