Hulu Langat Park Confusion

Park confusion
Tuesday January 31, 2006

Logging at the fringes of a proposed park had villagers up in arms, writes Hilary Chiew.

SELANGOR folks, particularly the conservation-minded populace, were overjoyed when an area the size of Perlis was declared the State Heritage Park last August.

The momentous event formed part of the state’s celebration of attaining developed status. As much as 107,000ha of forested areas in the districts of Hulu Langat, Gombak and Hulu Selangor, will make up the park to be managed by the newly set-up State Park Corporation.

However, uncertainty over the park surfaced two days after the declaration by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. Logging was reported by villagers living adjacent to the Hulu Langat Forest Reserve.

The Selangor Government then clarified that the Aug 27 event was merely to announce the establishment of the park. It said the process of gazetting the park area was still underway. This means the recommended park boundaries have yet to be determined and approved.

In his letter published by an English daily on Sept 16, Farush Khan from the Selangor press secretariat wrote that logging licence for the 334ha forest was approved in 2001, before the park was conceived. He further explained that the compartment approved for logging was within the production forest parcel of the reserve.

Of the 13,843ha reserve, 9,545.7ha is designated as production forest while the remaining 4,297.8ha is protected to serve 10 ecological and recreational functions.

If the public was confused, it is understandable. Media reports have implied that the park was already gazetted. Some newspapers have even quoted Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamed Khir Toyo as saying that the park has been gazetted under the State Park Enactment.

It doesn’t help when in an apparent knee-jerk reaction to the villagers’ complaint, the state issued a stop-work order with Mohd Khir proclaiming that no logging would be allowed in the heritage park.

Selangor Forestry Department director Nik Mohamed Shah Nik Mohamed said the stop-work order in September was subsequently lifted as the logging company Fungsi Mewah Sdn Bhd has a valid licence to operate from Aug 1, 2005 to July 31, 2006. He said logging activities were postponed until recently because of the rainy season.

The logging has triggered a fresh round of protest from villagers affected by lorries hauling logs on the only access road into their villages. Besides damaging the road, the lorries are a hazard to motorists, pedestrians and houses that lie just next to the road.

After visiting the site, Mohd Khir again issued a stop-work order pending investigation into the logging method which he claimed was damaging the environment. But the order was not complied with.

“More machineries were brought into the forest. We could hear trees falling in the jungle,” said Abdul Shukor Abdul Kadir, who chairs the committee formed to address the problem. He claimed that the next morning, more logs were taken out from the jungle.

Nik Mohamed Shah, however, said the loggers were clearing logs felled before the issuance of the order.

“Actual logging has not begun. The loggers were felling trees to make the logging trail to gain access to the selected trees. This is the most tricky aspect in the logging process,” he explained, referring to the scale of erosion brought by clear-felling.

Nik Mohamed Shah said initial investigations showed that the contractor has carried out work “according to specification.” He added however, that the rainy spell could have worsen the condition. He said the department would continue assessing the situation and would press charges if licensing conditions have been breached.

Mohamed Khir told a press conference after the weekly executive council meeting on Jan 18 that a decision was made to revoke the licence. Taking the weather into consideration, the logger has been given between two and four weeks to remove the remaining 300 tonnes of logs.

Angry villagers, however, are not satisfied that their village road continued to be used by the lorries. Attempts to engage the contractor Sim Swee Hin Sdn Bhd to discuss compensation claims was snubbed by the representative at the worksite on the grounds that the authority has sanctioned the log transportation.

Villagers are also suspicious that the amount taken out has exceeded the 300 tonnes as they observed more than 50 lorry-loads exiting the log yard over the weekend of Jan 21 to 22. Each lorry has a 20-tonne capacity.

Dismissing the speculations, Nik Mohamed Shah said the contractor has been instructed to reduce the load per trip thus resulting in more trips, adding that the licensor has agreed to repair the road.

He said in accordance to normal licensing procedure, the logging company is being given a grace period after its licence has expired to facilitate clearance of logs.

Questions on the status of the park faxed to the State Park Corporation director Haji Mohamad Nik went unanswered. It is learnt that the corporation has been directed to complete boundary demarcation by March.

The park was conceptualised in 1998 when the forested areas along the eastern side of Selangor were identified as Environmentally Sensitive Areas. Approximately 76% of the recommended areas lie above 300m and 9.5% above 1,000m.

Nik Mohamed Shah said the department has identified 90% of the 13 Forest Reserves which fall within the recommended park boundaries to be gazetted as park areas. A big portion of the land is above 1,000m and forms a 437 sq km watershed.

The highland is regarded as the “water tower” of the Klang Valley as it is the source of three main rivers – the Kelang, Selangor and Langat – that feed five major dams and 23 water intakes in the state, and account for 98% of its water supplies.

Inclusion of these highlands as part of the park would improve the country’s montane forest representation in its Protected Area landscape.

WWF Malaysia senior programme officer (Protected Areas) Surin Suksuwan said at the moment the whole of the Main Range is left out of national and state parks.

“It is also important to protect more areas above 300m in light of the tremendous pressure on lowland forests (between 0 and 300m),” he said. -- The Star.

45% orang asli pupils drop out after Year Six

45% orang asli pupils drop out after Year Six
Thursday January 26, 2006
By Roslina Mohamad

KUANTAN: Almost 45% of orang asli pupils who studied at primary schools in Pahang failed to continue at secondary level.

State Health, Social Welfare and Orang Asli Affairs Committee chairman Datuk Ishak Muhammad said the figure was alarming and measures should be taken to reduce the number.

He said that records showed the number of orang asli studying in Year Six from 2000 until 2004 was 5,168.

“However, only 2,864 or 55.5% of them continued their studies in Form One.

“Another 2,304 pupils or 44.5% dropped out of school,” he said, adding that the situation was largely due to the attitude and way of life of the community.

Ishak said that boredom and laziness had been identified as the two main causes of the high dropout rate by a local research group.

He said the other reasons cited in their study were that they were not interested to learn, fed up of getting scolded by teachers and preferred to help their parents at work.

Ishak said that concerted efforts were needed from all parties to educate and create awareness on the importance of education among indigenous people.

Among the programmes earmarked were motivational courses for heads of families and women folk, tuition, educational aid, transportation and accommodation for those in remote areas, and scholarships, he added.

Ishak said the Education Ministry had built hostels for orang asli students in SK Betau, SK Kuala Koyan and SK Permatang Keledang in Kuala Lipis, SM Tengku Kudin and SM Koyan in Raub, and SM Sultan Ahmad Shah in Cameron Highlands.

“A total of 156 orang asli received federal scholarships last year, while in 2004, 151 of them enjoyed similar benefits,” he said.

Currently, there are 11,852 orang asli families in Pahang of which 5,936 are listed as hardcore poor and 3,347 as poor. -- The Star.

Cameron Highlands Lake Rehab

It's about time they did something about the Cameron Highlands' Sultan Abu Bakar Lake. The silting has pretty much made the lake an eyesore. I still remember way back about 10 years ago, when the lake was still beautiful. Now all it resembles is a mud pie.

The lake is part of a dam used by Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) for generating electricity at the Jor and Woh power stations located downstream generating about 250 megawatts of electricity. TNB has decided to engage contractors to desilt the lake by dredging and removing the silt and sediment, according to CH TNB general manager, Mohd Safian Ismail.

It is estimated to take a couple of years to finish the job. Probably by end of 2007. But when I asked the Lakehouse manager, he said probably it will take 3 years or more. But given the terrible state of the lake and the few times they tried to remove the silt, probably would not be cleared at all, the manager opinioned.

However the silt is the result of overdevelopment in the Cameron Highlands. With the silt and mud washed down from the river from development upstream, the Department of Environment has recommended TNB to build rubbish and silt traps, in which TNB will implement it soon. Otherwise all the desilting effort would be wasted as more silt and sediment get washed down to be trapped at the lake nullifying the effort of cleaning up the lake.

Not cheap to do it too, for it cost about RM150 million to rehabilitate the lake.

Well, let's hope TNB would go all the way to clean up the lake. It would be such a shame especially with the government call for 'Love Our River' campaign and the effort was done half heartedly.

Truly a wet time in Cameron Highlands

It's was such a wet season to go up Cameron Highlands, but there was a pattern to it. Much like the weather in good old KL. You will have good bright beautiful sunshine in the mornings, gets rather gloomy and cloudy by afternoon, then the downpours starts and goes on for awhile. Depending on your luck, the rain can be short duration or long winded with mild to heavy drizzle.

My trip up there on the New Year's Eve was not so much different from the description above. The climate weather had beautiful clear blue skies in the mornings, pefect for nice peaceful jungle walk, strolling and taking the wonderfully fresh morning forest air and having a good workout. AH, feels good to breath in the cool air! Even with sun shining ever so brightly (it is quite hot actually), the jungle canopy blocks out the strong sunlight and filters through with beautiful sunbeams. The air was crisp and the sound of running waters by the Parit trail adds to the ambience!

On the recommendation of Strawberry Park Resort Hotel Tour Manager, I tried out the Arcadia / Jungle Walk #3 too. It leads all the way to Gunung Beremban some 198km! Way too much walking for me! I just walk about 15 minutes or so before turning back around. Now this trail is what I call jungle trekking! No paved path, pure earth with tree roots to clamber over. There was much moss growth along the path and tree trunks.

Beautiful!

Once I compiled and edit my photos I will post it up on the Cameron Highlands photo gallery page.

On another note, the Strawberry Park Resort Hotel Tour Manager, mentioned that the recent heavy rain and has caused a landslide on the access road to Gunung Brinchang. Three cars that went up there could not return and as far as he knows, the road was not fixed so the cars still remained stucked up there at Gunung Brinchang!

Now that's a thought, because I wanted to drive up there again. According to the manager, the recent heavy rain and the pounding weight of vehicles might have caused the weakened road to collapse.

Pretty unfortunate for the visitors who went up there and had to leave their cars behind!

I had collected much material during this trip, so will post more info later as I compile and edit my photos. So do keep a lookout for page additions and blogs.

Till then, cheers and hoorays for the New Year 2006 and may your dreams come true in the new year!

Happy New Year!