Stop quarrying, save waterfall area, plead Pantai Remis residents

 

The waterfall area near Segari, Pantai Remis, which residents claim has been destroyed by quarrying.

BERUAS: Quarrying activities in the Segari Melintang forest reserve in Pantai Remis have almost destroyed a popular tourist attraction, especially the waterfall area which used to be breathtaking at one time.

Calling for an immediate halt to quarrying there carried out by a state government-appointed contractor, residents and an environmental group said the Tanjung Batu Teluk Sera waterfall could be restored if the blasting is stopped immediately.

Friends of the Earth Activists Association (Kuasa) deputy chairman Ismady Radzuan said quarrying work was being conducted by a contractor appointed by state-owned MB Inc since July last year.

“If you see the current condition (of the waterfall), it might appear to be difficult to restore.

“But I am confident that if all quarrying stops and it is left alone, it can revert to its natural state soon,” he told reporters after visiting the site here today.

According to Ismady, the one-hectare site with the 300m-high waterfall was closed to the public as it was located in a permanent forest reserve, which requires a permit to enter.

“The waterfall is believed to have had seven tiers, with a pool for every tier, but today we see all that has changed,” he said.

Ismady said Kuasa, together with Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) and several groups had urged the state authorities to gazette the entire forest reserve as a state park.

Water flowing from the waterfall to the quarrying site.

“If the state authorities are committed to preserving the forests, which are life sustaining, they need to speed up the gazetting of the Segari Melintang State Park, which has been agreed upon in principle,” he said.

A Sungai Batu village resident, Ishak Mohamad, 63, said the waterfall’s destruction must be taken into account by the company concerned and the local authorities.

“I have known about this place since 1978. The waterfall used to be beautiful but now the situation is really bad.

“We don’t object to development but you need to be concerned about the environment,” he said.

Perak Health, Science, Environment and Green Technology Committee chairman Mohd Akmal Kamarudin said the state Forestry Department and the Department of Environment had been ordered to submit reports on the damage done. - FMT