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©New Straits Times
(Used by permission)
KUALA LUMPUR: The Bar Council has joined the chorus condemning Kedah menteri
besar's plan to cut down trees near water catchment areas.
Bar Council's environmental law sub-committee chairman Roger
Tan said it was disappointing to have a state government prepared to sacrifice
the environment in the name of development while many other countries were
spending millions on tree planting in water catchment areas.
The area nearby Ulu Muda Dam, which supplies water to Penang as well as Kedah,
is expected to be severely affected if the logging goes ahead.
"This is another sad case of men, motivated by greed, falling to the temptation
of money, which is the root of all evil, without appreciating and preserving the
natural environment which is a gift from God," Tan said in a statement
yesterday.
Tan said although the National Forestry Act 1984 states that all forest produce
in forest reserves or state land belong to the state government, most state laws
also imposed serious penalties against polluting water catchment areas.
"How we manage the water catchment areas will affect the
quality and quantity of water.
"This explains why they are usually protected under the Protected Areas and
Protected Places Act 1959."
Careful forest management, he said, is necessary to meet Malaysia's present and
future water needs.
"Large-scale felling of trees is not forest management. It is forest elimination
which will cause irreversible ecological damage."
Gerakan slams move to fell trees
GEORGE TOWN: Gerakan has joined the fray to criticise the Kedah state
government's decision to log timber at a water catchment area.
Acting president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said yesterday that
Gerakan "strongly objects" to the Pas-led state government's decision to cut
trees in the Ulu Muda forest reserve for profit.
He said the area was a main catchment point for water supplied not only to
Kedah, but also Penang and Perlis.
Koh said Gerakan supported the present Penang state government's position on the
matter.
However, Koh noted that in 2002-2003, he too had objected strongly to a similar
move by the Kedah state government.
Koh said besides making objections through the media, he also
approached the then prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Primary
Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik.
"I impressed upon them that it was absolutely crucial to preserve the forest
reserve as a water catchment area.
"I emphasised that this water catchment area was just as important for Kedah as
it was for Penang," he said in a statement released here.
Koh said the Kedah menteri besar at that time argued that it was not fair to
deprive Kedah of revenue from logging in order to supply water to Penang.
"I disagreed with the argument, because the water volume for Kedah rice fields,
industrial and domestic use far exceeded that for Penang."
Koh said after his appeal, the Federal Government directed the Kedah state
government to abandon the logging proposal.
He added that the Kedah state government, which was under the Barisan Nasional
at that time, fortunately agreed not to proceed.
Koh said Lim Guan Eng, as the present chief minister, should use all means to
convince his Pas counterpart in Kedah to abandon the plan.
Groups to hold campaign
ALOR STAR: Environmental groups and non-governmental organisations plan to hold
a campaign next week to express concern over the proposed logging at a water
catchment area.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia honorary secretary R. Meenakshi said
she would be communicating with an association named "Friends of Ulu Muda",
which consists of several environmental groups, to organise a peace campaign.
"We are in the process of figuring out the type of campaign to be conducted.
"The campaign will be organised as an appeal to Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak
to consider his proposal of felling trees at the water catchment area,"
Meenakshi told New Straits Times when contacted.
She said there should be no logging activities at the water catchment area as it
would affect the environment in so many ways.
In fact, once an area had been gazetted as a forest reserve or water catchment
area, not even one tree should be cut down.
Kedah govt's decision 'smacks of arrogance'
by Adib Povera
ALOR STAR: Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak's adamant decision to log timber at
a water catchment area shows the Pas-led state government is arrogant, Derga
state assemblyman Dr Chia Soon Hai (BN-Gerakan) said.
In a faxed statement yesterday, he said the decision also
showed that the state government was wayward in its thinking.
"You cannot kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
"Instead of bagging on God's gift, the state government should explore other
avenues such as the agro-based industry, tourism, and expanding the High-Tech
Park in Kulim to increase income for the state.
"There is no short cut to gov-erning the state... It needs hard work and
long-term strategy."
Chia said logging at a water catchment area would lead to catastrophic effects
such as flooding as Kedah was a low-lying area.
He said the state government's decision to log timber at the Ulu Muda forest
reserve was also against the 15-point Pas election manifesto, which stated that
development must not have an adverse impact on quality of air and water and on
jungles.
"The state government may brush aside the political critics. However, they
should consider the views voiced out by non-governmental organisations such as
Sahabat Alam Malaysia, Consumers Association of Penang and the Malaysia Nature
Society."
Chia proposed the formation of a state-level committee consisting of government
officers, opposition parties, federal environment agencies and NGOs to study the
impact of the logging plan.
He said there was no way that logging activity would be environment-friendly as
no one was able to select a decaying tree in a forest.
It has been reported that the state government plans to log the forest reserve
as timber there is estimated to be worth about RM16 billion.
The decision has been condemned by several NGOs and farmers who fear the area
will be hit by natural disasters once trees at the water catchment area are
logged.
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