As residents pick up what is left of their lives from the mud and sludge of the floods that hit Kampung Iboi, Kampung Jerai and Kampung Pisang near Baling on Monday, one thing is clear in their minds - the forest clearing next door.
The existence of a 52-acre Musang King plantation in the Gunung Inas Forest Reserve about a kilometre upstream from the villages was singled out by villagers met by Malaysiakini as the cause of the devastating silt and debris-laden floods that killed three people and displaced at least 600.
They said such extensive life losses and damage to properties had never occurred before the forest was cleared to make way for the plantation, even when there was continuous rain for two to three days.
This countered the assertions of the state and federal governments that the floods were not linked to the durian plantation, that there is no active logging and that the floods were a “natural disaster” associated with the doubling of rainfall in the catchment area on Monday (July 4).
In the late afternoon that day, the stream in Kampung Iboi, once a popular recreational and picnic spot with a waterfall upstream, broke its banks.
Kampung Iboi, which sits in a valley neighbouring Gunung Inas Forest Reserve, was the worst hit, but even Kupang town, seven kilometres away was not spared, with mud sludge seen all over the town, including its police station and Chinese school.
Villagers recalled how water levels rose at such a tremendous speed that none of them could save their belongings before debris, sludge, and water rushed into their homes and buildings. Some of those structures were utterly swept away by the flood.
Only dirt left
She recalled how she heard a loud noise during the heavy downpour before water suddenly started gushing inside her bakery, located along the stream in Kampung Iboi.
Today, there is only dirt left on the spot where the bakery stood.
Nurhalimah shouted for help when the rising water closed the doors of the premises. Her two refrigerators blocked the way and prevented her from removing any of her belongings to safety.
“The water level was rising, and I shouted for help from the neighbours, but we could not save anything. We managed to get out of the building before it was washed away by the gushing waters.
“I ran to my mother-in-law’s house behind, which was located on a high ground, as I was watching the building being swept away,” she recalled her ordeal.
Her father-in-law Kuin Mat Noh, 69, blamed the government for allowing the Musang King durian farm, which he believes is the root cause of the disaster.
He said the villagers were against the proposal of having the durian farm on the hills from the beginning as they feared such a disaster.
“The durian farm owners were very secretive, and they fenced up the area and installed a gate to prevent the villagers from entering. The farm owner had cleared vast forest land on the hills and planted very few durian trees in replace of forest trees.
“There were 10 ponds on the hills for the water needs of the villagers. The villagers were told that three of the ponds had been damaged due to gushing water.
“We want the government to give an assurance that there will be no recurrence of a similar disaster in future and cancel the entire durian farm project,” Kuin said.
Mud-caked homes, vehicles buried under sludge
Siti Aisya Misnan, 34, nearly lost her 16-year-old son in the floods when water rushed into their rented home downstream from the bakery.
Showing Malaysiakini what was left of her home, she said her son was doing his homework at home alone when water suddenly rushed in.
Pointing to the pile of debris which used to be her kitchen, she related how her son tried to escape to the roof through the back door but met rising waters there too.
The walls of her home were completely obliterated, leaving what looked like a mud-caked abandoned hut.
“At about 5pm, I went to a nearby shop to buy some items for cooking, and my son called me to tell me that he was trapped in the house, surrounded by water. He tried to climb up to the roof. However, he fell twice before I managed to rescue him.
“I have been renting here for the last four years, and no such rainfall and water from the hills have caused extensive damage to the properties and loss of lives,” she said.
Siti Aisya said she would temporarily stay at her mother-in-law’s house with her three children.
Further downstream, Nor Hidayah Yahya, 31, said there was a thunderous noise when water from the hills rushed towards them.
As Nor Hidayah’s home at the Jalan Kampung Iboi-Jalan Bokbah main road was further away from the stream, her home was not damaged, and she managed to shut her door to keep the water out.
However, she watched in horror as vehicles were swept away by mud and currents just beyond her front gate.
“I witnessed the rushing water washing away a Toyota Vivo, SUV Alza, a Honda Civic, a van and two motorcycles into lower ground. Rescuers only managed to save the van and motorcycles, as the other vehicles were buried in the mud.”
Alarms of impending disaster raised in 2018 but ignored
Day two after the disaster, Malaysiakini witnessed excavators in use and workers with chainsaws still hard at work to clear out piles of wood debris and hardened mud and sludge in the villages.
Witnessing this deeply aggrieved social activist and Pertubuhan Perlindungan Khazanah Malaysia (Peka) Kedah representative Mohd Sobri Ramlee, who had raised the alarm as early as 2018.
At the time, he had warned that three spots in Kedah, including Gunung Inas Reserve Forest, Rimba Teloi Reserve Forest and Gunung Bongsu Reserve Forest, were bombs waiting to explode due to forest clearance in the area.
“I raised the issue of the clearing of forest in Gunung Inas to the state executive councillor in 2018, when Mukhriz (Mahathir) was the Kedah MB. I said such a disaster is in the waiting if they continue to clear the trees on the hills.
“I reported the matter to the Department of Environment and reminded them that Post Dipang near Tapah had a similar incident about 20 years ago, and I feared such an incident is possible here due to hill clearing. Now, we are seeing it happening.
“The catchment ponds on Gunung Inas provide water to 70 villages and 21,000 people in the area. So, the government should review the durian farm on the hills,” Mohd Sobri added. - Mkini
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