THE Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) would like to commend Penang Water Supply Corporation chief executive officer Datuk Jaseni Maidinsa for the statement he made appealing to the federal government to stop the Kedah state government from allowing logging in the Ulu Muda Forest.
He has clearly stated the facts in regards to how logging in the Ulu Muda Forest will negatively affect the function of the Ulu Muda River as a raw water source for the states of Penang, Kedah and Perlis, jeopardising the water supply to 4.2 million people.
We encourage those who have not read the statement to do so as the public needs to understand how and why logging in the Ulu Muda Forest will affect them.
It has become glaringly obvious that global warming has caused our dry seasons to be quite drastic and this in turn has affected the water level of our man-made dams.
For instance, it was reported on Aug 24 that the water in the Teluk Bahang Dam would only last for an estimated 52 days because of low rainfall.
Furthermore, despite the heavy rainfall Penang has been having recently, Jaseni stated that the Teluk Bahang Dam is still only at an effective capacity of 22.6% which is “abnormally low”.
This alone is evidence as to why natural water catchment areas are vital and should be preserved at all costs.
CAP would also like to point out that Jaseni’s statement highlighted that the logging done in the Ulu Muda Forest will inevitably cause pollution in Ulu Muda River.
We need to keep in mind the cases of water pollution recently in Selangor that caused many households to be without water for many days.
We cannot afford the same thing to happen to the Ulu Muda River and have it affect the 4.2 million people in Penang, Kedah and Perlis.
As such, we echo his call to the federal government to put a stop to the Kedah government’s logging plans for Ulu Muda forest.
Mohideen Abdul Kader
President
Consumers Association of Penang
