Peka calls on gov't to impose logging moratorium in Bentong

BENTONG: President of the Association for the Protection of Natural Heritage of Malaysia (Peka) Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil has called on the Federal government to impose a moratorium on logging in areas affected by the activity, here.
She said the moratorium was necessary to give time to the affected areas to "rehabilitate" after the trees were cut down, either for the purpose of development, plantation or vegetable farming.
"Logging activities have been increasingly rampant, including near water catchment areas and hill slopes, which increase the risk of natural disasters such as mud floods, floods or landslides.
"If a moratorium can be imposed on bauxite as a result of pollution, why can't such action be taken against logging activities? It also involves the destruction of the environment.
"We are not anti-logging. We realise it is a source of income, but it needs to be done more wisely ... trees cut down should be replanted, and logging cannot be done recklessly.
"The logging activities being carried out currently is not according to regulations. There is little monitoring, and we find it difficult to seek cooperation in preserving the environment," she told reporters after an aerial survey of the area today.
National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) Operations Division director Datuk Azizan Abu Taat also joined the survey.
Shariffa Sabrina added that based on the surveillance today, there were significant logging activities seen to be taking place on the hill slopes, with road trails in the forest area.
This, she said, raised the question on whether the activities, included opening of new palm oil plantations or vegetable farms were taking place with the knowledge of the authorities including the Pahang state government, or illegally.
"Therefore, monitoring should always be carried out by enforcement authorities, and they must always go down to the ground in order to preserve the environment, as it is not only seasonal work. Do not let the Cameron Highlands incident recur because then, it would be too late," she said.
She added that Peka was always open to meet and discuss with the relevant departments, the state government or the authorities in solving the problem, however, she claimed it was difficult to get positive feedback from the parties.
Shariffa Sabrina added that if the problem was contained now, it would not only avoid aggravated impact of natural disasters, but also ease the burden of the security forces.
"Natural disasters are risky, involving death or injury, as well as causing the government to spend a lot of money on recovery work, which can be avoided, if environmental management was done properly," she said.
Meanwhile, Azizan said the air surveillance was conducted to check the validity of complaints regarding deforestation in Bentong, so that accurate information could be channelled to the authorities for further action.
He stressed that the survey was not done to "find faults or point fingers" at anyone, but rather to find solutions to prevent greater disasters from happening in the future. — Bernama