Floods: Kelantan blames illegal land clearing, logging

Floods: Kelantan blames illegal land clearing, logging

KOTA BARU: The Kelantan government has blamed illegal land clearing and logging as among the causes for the devastating floods in the State.

Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob said that the state government had always capped logging at 5,960ha a year which is the standard set by the National Land Council.

"Our forestry management practices have also received MC&I SFM certification by indepedent world bodies while any new logging areas have to have environmental impact assessments (EIA)," Ahmad said in a statement here.

"Uncontrolled logging may be due to illegal land clearing by irresponsible quarters." Ahmad also pledged that the state government would step up enforcement to stamp out these activities.

As more than 100,000 people have been displaced in the Northeastern state by the worse floods in recent memory, fingers have been pointed at the rampant logging and land clearing in Kelantan's hinterland Gua Musang.

After his visit to Gua Musang on Wednesday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak also alluded to rampant land clearing as a factor which could have worsened the floods this year.

"Rampant opening of land, especially for logging, has an effect on the environment because there is no natural retention to stop the water from flowing directly to the river swiftly," Najib had said.

The national news agency also reported that the flow of major rivers had been blocked by logs jammed under bridges, causing the river to overflow its banks and the water to flood surrounding areas.

The Kelantan government has in the past been blamed for turning a blind eye to rampant logging and land clearing which has led to severe deforestation in Gua Musang, where Kelantan's major rivers begin.

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Floods: Kelantan blames illegal land clearing, logging