Crawler tractor logging not safe

I REFER to the report “It’s a muddy mess” (The Star, Nov 13), on the Karak highway landslide.

A few states in Malaysia still depend on their forest resources to generate income.

Pahang is one such state.

The use of crawler tractors is the most common method used for logging in these forest concessions.

This technique does little harm when used in lowland forest areas but there is no more such areas for logging available.

Most of the forest concessions these days are located in the low and upper hill areas.

This crawler tractor logging technique is not suitable for these areas because there will be a lot of soil disturbance during logging operations.

Even though many new guidelines have been incorporated to enhance existing rules to minimise the damage to the residual stand, the crawler tractor logging method is still very damaging to the terrain it operates in.

It is high time the ministry and the forest authority incorporate better logging techniques for these hilly areas while at the same time ensuring that it generates income for the state and preserves our natural resources.

Remember the worst flood tragedy in Kelantan last year.

This was not caused mainly by the heavy downpours alone but also by the rate the forest was cleared.

Almost the entire area had been logged using crawler tractors.

HJ AMIR ABDUL NASIR SHAARI

Kuala Kangsar