SAM & CAP welcome decision to stop logging activities in Bukit Perangin

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) and the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) welcome the Kedah state government’s decision to stop logging activities in Bukit Perangin, in the district of Kubang Pasu as the logging activities have adversely affected the environment and lives of the local community here.

Commenting on an article in a local newspaper (Sinar Harian: 26 August 2018) quoting Kubang Pasu Member of Parliament Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah on the matter, we think it is timely for the new government to do so because more than 400 residents of Kampung Wang Perah had suffered long due to the logging here.

Amiruddin stated he was worried that if the uncontrolled logging activity continues, it will cause disturbance to the ecosystem in the nearby Bukit Wang Recreation Forest.

Besides the mud floods that often hit the village, rivers and paddy fields in the area will be polluted with sediments and further threatened in the future if such a move is not taken by the state government.

Since 2013 until 2017 we had repeatedly voiced out our objections to the logging activities through the media and official letters to the authorities and the previous state government but no effective action was taken.

Hence we welcome the statement by Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir during a recent sitting of the state assembly that Kedah is moving towards zero logging.

Besides replanting suitable tree species in the areas that have been logged over, we urge the Kedah government to gazette more forest areas in the state as Permanent Reserved Forest to ensure protection of the forests.

We believe that the crisis in water supply faced by the people and paddy farmers and the flash floods that often hit several districts in the state will be overcome more effectively if logging activities are stopped and forest areas are protected.

 

Media Statement, 18th September 2018