N.Sembilan forestry department to monitor Galla forest reserve logging activity - MB
05 Oct 2023 03:11pm
Picture for illustrative purposes - FILE PIX
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun said the department was also instructed to continue monitoring the logging activities and take steps to minimise any problems.
"I often ask the Forestry Department to review the area if there is a violation. However, according to them, there are no such activities detected.
"The logging activity is legal, only selected trees i.e. only mature trees are felled. The logging area is also far from the population area, there should be no issue,” he told reporters at the press conference of the state executive council (exco) meeting.
Aminuddin said he had received objections from the Orang Asli residents but the matter had been discussed between the Forestry Department, the logging licence holder and the Orang Asli community who had agreed at the initial stage.
Meanwhile, Orang Asli residents in three villages here claimed that logging activities caused the river water to become murky, especially when it rains heavily, since August.
Resident representative, Panjang Pandak, 63, said more than 1,000 residents in Kampung Tekir, Kampung Belihoi and Kampung Sungai Mahang were affected by the murky water.
He said the residents in these three villages depended entirely on the river in their daily lives.
"We hope the government takes appropriate action as it will take at least two weeks to clear up murky water. This water source is very important for us here,” he said when met at Kampung Sungai Mahang in Nilai, here.
He said the Orang Asli community knew the logging activity was allowed but the relevant agencies should be more sensitive to the effects experienced by the villagers.
He said the logging activity also affected their food sources and income as herbal plants such as Tongkat Ali and Kacip Fatimah are among the sources of income of the villagers - BERNAMA
