Has the Kedah MB’s promise to freeze logging thawed?
by Sangeetha Amarthalingam, fz.com
What has happened to the promise made by Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Paduka Mukhriz Mahathir on the logging freeze in the state when he took office in May last year?
Reports by the local community indicate that logging is prevalent despite the alleged halt in the 105,060ha Ulu Muda region, covering the Sik, Baling and Padang Terap districts, and the forests surrounding Jeniang.
Moreover, one licence holder in a forest area that is twice the size of Perlis is the Kedah Menteri Besar Corporation (KMBC).
In one part of Ulu Muda, KMBC owned 0.409ha in Compartment 82 in the ecologically-sensitive forest reserve.
The permit for the activity shows that it began on July 29 last year and will end on Jan 28 this year with Perak-based logging contractor Win Sum Timber Trading appointed to extract the timber.
There is also the question of whether an open competitive tender was conducted to appoint the contractor that would extract timber for KMBC.
The other licensees were private companies Chek Seng Trading with a 60ha stake over the land, and Ikatan Nagasari Enterprise with about 86ha ownership of the land.
A check with the Companies Commission of Malaysia revealed that Chek Seng with two owners was based in Kedah, but information on Ikatan Nagasari could not be traced.
The contractor for Chek Seng is SBB Northern Trading and is owned by two persons. Chek Seng was established in 1988 and deals in timber products.
When the halt on logging had been announced, environmentalists including the Friends of Ulu Muda, who often called for the gazetting of this forest where large parts of it formed the water catchment area for Pedu and Muda dams, were relieved.
They claimed that not only were humans affected by the clearing, deforestation could eventually wipe out wild honey bee colonies as well as destroy the fragile ecosystem and biodiversity in the vast forest.
According to a 2008 Worldwide Fund for Nature brochure on Ulu Muda `The Hidden Realm of the Malaysian Rainforest’, the forest houses 450 flowering species, about 107 mosses, and animals such as the `wild pig’ (Sus scrofa), barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak), sambar deer (Cervus unicolor), Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus), Asiatic elephant (Elephas maximus), otters and wild cats.
Environmental impact assessments (EIAs) are not conducted for most of the concession areas as most of them are less than 500ha, as provided for under the Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (Environmental Impact Assessment) Order 1987.
Nevertheless, Mukhriz’ order on May 18 last year, days after his appointment, was made in view of pending studies on the environment and people’s livelihood following accusations that the former PAS-led government had allowed extensive logging to take place.
The current condition of the forest, where large swaths have been cleared along the Trans Eastern Interland Kedah Highway (Tekih) and nearby Kampung Landai and Kampung Melaka, has got the villagers asking about the promise.
“Mukhriz said he has stopped all logging activities in the state but why is logging still going on in this forest? Having lived all our lives here, it would seem that we are always the victims,” said Yusuf Musa, a rubber tapper.
“The forest where we used to forage for jungle produce such as fruits, medicinal herbs and edible leaves are no longer available to us since logging started. This forest has been logged since the 1950s but it has become worse now.
“The logging companies closed the road leading to the forest, so we cannot go in. We used to be able to fish in Sungai Sok. Now it is muddy and the fish breeding grounds have disappeared.
“A few minor landslips have also occurred along the riverbank,” he said.
Yusuf, 42, said that they now only survived on the sale of rubber, derived from their own small-scale plantations following the loss of income from the sale of jungle produce.
Speaking to fz.com in his spartan kampung house, Yusuf, the father of seven, said about 3,000 villagers, mostly rubber tappers and odd-job workers in Kampung Landai and Kampung Melaka were affected by the logging activities.
Not too long ago, he reminisced, the villagers could earn about RM1,000 a month from the sale of jungle-sourced halba (fenugreek), rattan, petai (stink bean), `buah kerdas’, `buah keranji’ (velvet tamarind) and `gaharu’ (agarwood).
He said not only was it difficult to enter the forest, forest produce has reduced considerably due to widespread logging.
According to Pertubuhan Angkatan Belia Bersama Ulama (Panglima) president Sulaiman Ibrahim, logging was believed to be conducted on a 716ha piece of land, an area where logging permits has been given within the Ulu Muda forest reserve.
“However, we want to know if loggers are operating outside the permitted zone. Is the state government aware about this because the villagers claimed that there were incidents of illegal logging.
