Proposal to ban logging in Ulu Muda

ALOR STAR: A member of the newly formed Kedah state government has voiced out on the possibility of banning logging in the Ulu Muda forestry area following complaints and reports lodged by civil society and the Penang Water Authority (PBA).
State executive councillor Tan Kok Yew, who oversees Housing, Local Government and Tourism portfolio, said that the consequences of dealing with the after-effects of rampant logging outstrips the benefits of continuing with it.
Hence, it is only fair that Kedah reviews the concessions allotted for logging in the Ulu Muda area, which PBA classifies as an integral part of the water basin system between Kedah and Penang, said Tan in an interview here.
He said that logging; if conducted to the scope of the agreements inked between the state and logging companies, it was acceptable.
"What I am aggrieved with is the lack of enforcement which has led to the illegal logging practises up in Ulu Muda," said Tan.
He said that eventually, Ulu Muda should just be set aside for eco-tourism ventures in areas of conservation and preservation rather than in land clearing.
But of now, he said that the losses incurred by the damages to the hilly areas and the water basins tend to outweigh the revenue earned from logging for Kedah.
"When we have flooding, destructions of properties and the loss of personal income as well as pollution; such things are worst than in preserving our forests."
If the paddy fields are polluted, it is pointless to continue with indiscriminate logging, he stressed.
Therefore, Tan said that eventually, he hoped to see Ulu Muda transformed into a site for eco-friendly ventures only.
But for it to happen, the Pakatan Harapan-led Federal Government needs to assist Kedah in receiving a substitute form of income rather than relying on logging.
"We need help to reduce the dependency on income raised from logging concessions."
Tan's remarks was greeted positively by the civil society here, where a spokesperson with Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) cited that the civil society has been championing for a halt to logging in the area for the past two-years.
Tan's remarks have also come on the heels of a report quoting a source from the state forestry department, who had indicated that water samples from the Sungai Muda basin showed that there was no pollution.
It was reported that for last year, the department had recorded 30 cases of illegal logging activities in the state, and the forest rangers have collected a total of RM1.3 million in compounds.
From 2008 until 2016, the size of land that was permissible for logging in Kedah, had also decreased from 184,831ha to 134,370ha.
The size of the protected forest also rose by 31% from 157,781ha in 2008 to 207,606ha in 2016.