Malaysia: MNS warns of environmental impact with massive land clearing activity at Bukit Sekilau, Kuantan

HIDIR REDUAN New Straits Times 16 Nov 17;

KUANTAN: The Pahang chapter of the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) warned of escalating human-animal conflicts as land clearing at Bukit Sekilau in the state capital here drives more wildlife into urban areas.

Its chairman Noor Jehan Abu Bakar said that the situation unfolding at the 300m hill is alarming due to mass deforestation near an urban environment.

"The people nearby will be inundated with wild boars and monkeys because of loss of habitat up there.

"(Land clearing) will push animals to encroach onto human premises. There will be human and animal conflicts if we do not address the problem holistically," she said.

She was responding to the Bukit Sekilau land clearing issue which has raised public concern on environmental degradation and negative fallout on the surrounding human population.

Jehan explained that their own on-the-ground inspection revealed that the land clearing has led to habitat destruction, biodiversity erosion and environmental pollution, including air, water and noise pollutions, among others.

"We strongly feel that we need urban forest levels to stabilise the amount of carbon monoxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," she said.

She also warned that Bukit Sekilau residents are rightly concerned about the heightened risks of mud floods from the cleared hill especially as the monsoon season is underway across the state.

"We are worried that the impact from this deforestation can be viewed in a bigger picture encompassing global warming, soil degradation, loss of biodiversity," she said.

The NST and Harian Metro had reported on residents’ concerns on land clearing in Bukit Sekilau.

The area is now an eyesore with evident bald patches. Residents worry about the adverse impact of the land clearing on the environment and surrounding population. The hill is very visible from many parts of Kuantan.

In a recent response to the report, state Basic Facilities and Environmental Committee chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Soffi Abdul Razak said that state government agencies, including the Kuantan Municipal Council (MPK), district Land and Mines Office and state Minerals and Geoscience Department, were looking into the controversial project.

He said the agencies were told to look into all the documentation produced by parties involved with the land to determine whether their application for leave to clear land had been submitted to MPK.

He added that the agencies were also trying to determine whether the project required an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report to be tendered to the authorities.


‘Floods caused by logging activities’
The Star 17 Nov 17;

JITRA: Logging activities contributed to floods that forced nearly 500 people from their homes in 15 villages here and nearby Changlun.

Kubang Pasu MP Datuk Seri Mohd Johari Baharum said the felling of trees on Bukit Wang Perah in Changlun, which once was a beautiful hill, contributed to the floods.

He said poor drainage system and clogged drains were also contributory factors.

Johari, who visited evacuees at SMK Changlun yesterday, said floodwaters had receded in some places, enabling the victims to return home and the closure of SMK Changlun evacuation centre and surau at Kampung Betong and Kampung Tebing.

The Kampung Lahar surau took in 130 victims from 30 families and the Kampung Bata community hall sheltered 268 victims from 68 families.

Close to 500 villagers from 106 families in 15 villages were evacuated at the height of the floods which began inundating the villages from late Tuesday night.

The affected villages were Kam­pung Belukar, Kampung Nang Mah, Kampung Baru, Kampung Kubang Betong, Kampung Wang Perah, Kam­pung Changkat Setol, Kampung Paya Nomi, Kampung Kubang Kayu, Kampung Lahar, Kampung Paya Tok Kiong, Kampung Bata, Kam­pung Paya Tok Teh, Kampung Biak, Kampung Paya Kercut and Kam­pung Pahana.

Rohada Bakar, 52, said floodwaters rose to thigh level at her house at about 2am on Wednesday when a nearby river burst it banks after a three-hour downpour.

The housewife said the floods almost covered the bed of her bedridden husband Hasan Hamid, 68.

“It was a relief when Civil Defence Force personnel arrived to evacuate him, my 74-year-old sick mother and three children to SMK Chang­lun,” Rohada said. The family returned home yesterday.