Kelantan govt: Logging has led to environmental degradation in Gua Musang area

KOTA BARU: The Kelantan government says logging activities in the Balah forest reserve in Gua Musang has led to environmental degradation, particularly rivers which run through it.

Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Abdullah said silt and loose earth could have made their way from logging areas into the rivers.

However, he stressed that the damage caused was not enough to deem the rivers " heavily polluted".

He added that the state environment department would be aware of this as they had to comply with environmental impact assessment requirements," he said at Dataran Ilmu here on Friday.

Mohd Amar said any work within the forest reserve impacts the environment, which is why an EIA report is needed.

"At the end of the day, I believe we can solve their problem which I personally think is a misunderstanding between the loggers and the orang asli," he said.

On Sept 28, a brawl nearly broke out between scores of orang asli and henchmen of loggers, who confronted the orang asli manning a blockade with chainsaws and a shotgun.

The Kelantan government has since issued stop work orders to two logging companies to ease the tension and find an amicable solution to the stand off.