Monday July 23, 2012

Azizan defends logging at Gunung Inas

ALOR SETAR: Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak has defended the logging at the Gunung Inas forest reserve, saying that the state government adhered to all the rules.

“We have followed all the rules in conducting logging activity there and if it had been stopped, it could be due to some technical issues which can be easily solved.

“We consider the impact on the environment when conducting such an activity, and it is not for revenue alone,” he said yesterday.

Azizan said that as far as the state government was concerned, they abided by the rules, adding that he had said enough about the issue.

It was reported that logging at the Gunung Inas forest near Baling was stopped on Wednesday pending a detailed environmental impact assessment (EIA) report.

Kedah Mentri Besar Incorporated (PMBKed) chief executive officer Datuk Shahbudin Shafie said the agency received a letter from the Forestry Department stating that the logging activities had been halted.

The agency, which had been tasked to carry out the logging, was given three months to correct any weaknesses in the Ladang Rakyat project.

The Star had reported that about 5,000ha of land in Baling and Pedu have been cleared since mid-2011 to make way for the state government’s Ladang Rakyat rubber plantation scheme.

The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry confirmed that the activities had stopped since Wednesday.

“According to the Department of Environment (DOE), an EIA had been submitted by the parties involved in the logging activities but it was rejected,” it said in a statement yesterday.

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