CAMERON HIGHLANDS: The landslide incident in Kampung Raja, Blue Valley here, occurred in the Sungai Wi D Forest Reserve area, which had been illegally cleared by a vegetable farm operator last year, according to a Cameron Highlands district officer.
Syed Ahmad Khirulanwar Al-Yahya Syed Abdul Rahman said the local farm owner was arrested during an enforcement operation by the Pahang Forestry Department in April last year.
“The settler applied for a forest land use permit, but the Forestry Department did not grant approval due to the steep slope exceeding 35 degrees.
“This decision was made to mitigate potential hazards, particularly landslides, during periods of heavy rainfall,” he told a press conference at the Fire and Rescue Department control centre at the incident site here yesterday, Bernama reported.
Scent trail: Fire and Rescue officers continuing their search for three more Kampung Raja landslide victims with the help of canines from the K9 Unit. — Bernama
Syed Ahmad Khirulanwar said continuous monitoring by the relevant departments would be undertaken to address the problem of forest encroachment in the area.
On Friday, five Myanmar nationals were feared buried alive in their homes in a landslide at about 2.40am.
The first two bodies found on Friday had been identified as Law Ha Phey, 36, and Ki Shing Om, 48.
By yesterday evening, the bodies of all five victims, who were workers of a vegetable farm there, have been accounted for.
Earlier yesterday, Cameron Highlands OCPD Deputy Supt Azri Ramli said a third body was detected at 12.15pm by the Fire and Rescue Department’s tracker dog near sector C, where the first body was found. The body was later identified as that of Thang Moung, 25.
In the evening, DSP Azri said the last two bodies were found within 5m of each other.
“The fourth body was found during a search using heavy machinery at 6.10pm while the last body was found through manual excavation at 6.50pm,” he told reporters.
The fourth body was identified as that of Shing Law Har, 56, and the fifth as that of Om Myu, 37.
The bodies were all sent to Sultanah Hajjah Kalsom Hospital here for further action.
