New environment minister defends logging in Kelantan

Newly-appointed Environment Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man today has defended logging activities in Kelantan.

The PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, who clocked in at Putrajaya for the first day of his job, was asked to respond to criticisms on logging activities in PAS-led Kelantan.

"If you look at Kelantan, it has ISO certification, compared to other states that do not have any.

"It (criticism) is partly due to sentiment from the opposition," he said.

Kelantan state government was heavily criticised in the past for allowing logging activities which cause Orang Asli community in Gua Musang to lose their forest reserve area. 

Tuan Ibrahim then picked on the plantation sector, particularly the Musang King durian plantation, which he claimed had caused the pollution of rivers.

"It's not just about logging issues. For example, now there are thousands of acres of Musang King plantations which we will need to look at.

"We also need to look at our rivers, I'm serious about it...They have caused pollution to our rivers," he said adding the ministry will check to what extent the damage was done.

Malaysia's durian plantations covered 72,000 hectares in 2017.

The Star reported in 2018 that around 1,200 hectares of land near a forest reserve in Pahang that is home to the critically endangered Malayan tiger razed for musang king plantations.

Meanwhile, Tuan Ibrahim said he would continue the good policies implemented under Pakatan Harapan administration.

He said his ministry would continue to table the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act in Parliament.

He said the ministry would also continue to implement the single-use plastic and will send back the balance 84 illegal plastic waste containers sneaked into Malaysia to the countries of origin.

He said his ministry has yet to receive the Environmental Impact Assessment report by Lynas for its permanent disposal facility (PDF) for water leach purification residue at Bukit Ketam, Kuantan.

Lynas had said the state government consented the site as the PDF for the radioactive residue.

Tuan Ibrahim also pointed out that the ministry will step up the enforcement against open burning during the dry season which expected to start in the next two weeks.

It is expected a total of 14 or 15 agencies will be parked under the Environment Ministry.

That include the Department of Environment, Department of Wildlife and National Parks and Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM).  - Mkini