PARLIAMENT | A lawmaker from Kelantan has rebutted criticism of logging activities in certain states.
Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (Perikatan Nasional-Pasir Mas) said despite the criticism, these states actually have large swathes of forest reserves and act as the nation's lungs.
“When people talk about logging, they attack certain states, when in fact these states have many forest reserves which provide oxygen and are the nation’s lungs,” Fadhli (above) told the Dewan Rakyat today.
While the PAS MP did not mention names, his home state Kelantan is often one of the states where logging activities are heavily criticised.
The most recent criticism in Kelantan, is over deforestation in Nenggiri in Gua Musang, to make way for a hydroelectric dam.
The local Temiar community have repeatedly raised concerns that the dam would submerge four Orang Asli settlements in the area as well as flood 5,384ha of forest land (about 43,000 Olympic swimming pools).
Appearing confident that his state still has sizable forests, Fadhli urged the government to reveal the latest figure for forest reserves according to state.
He also said that the federal government should give carbon credit incentives to states that have a certain size of forest reserves.
Fadhli said this while debating the National Forestry (Amendment) Bill.
On protecting forests and their biodiversity, he called on the government to provide forest rangers with high-tech equipment such as drones.
‘Don’t continue bullying Kelantan’
Earlier, while debating the same bill, Wong Chen (Pakatan Harapan-Subang) called on Putrajaya to provide more funds to states such as Kelantan that rely on forest resources for income.
“The federal government must give financial commitment to give adequate funds to states that need forest resources such as Sabah, Sarawak, Pahang and Kelantan.
“The federal government can’t continue its practice of bullying the Kelantan government for decades, not giving them enough funding since the time of Nik Aziz Nik Mat.
“When there are insufficient funds, the state government will be desperate and resort to deforestation,” he said.
The PKR lawmaker - whose home town is in Kota Bharu - said that with adequate funds, Kelantan can contribute to the protection of forests and make them more sustainable. - Mkini
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