KUALA LUMPUR – With thousands rescued and given shelter from floods across the country in the past week, and many more incurring massive damage to their properties, a group of activists have pointed to feeble action against logging and deforestation as the main culprit.
“We have crossed a point of no return. The relevant authorities don’t seem concerned about this and corruption plays a huge part when giving approval for logging,” said Damien Thanam, an executive committee member for Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (Peka).
“The laws which protect our forests have too many weaknesses. Peka has raised the fact that deforestation has reached a point where it threatens national security.”
He recommended that the federal government amend the Federal Constitution to include provisions to protect our natural resources.
Speaking at a virtual press conference organised by the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) today, he said among the many factors behind the distressing loss of forest cover is Malaysia’s weak legal framework in protecting the environment and its resources.
Sharan Raj, PSM’s coordinator for environment and climate change took state governments to task for their over-reliance on logging to increase state coffers.
Criticising them, he questioned why they are not able to find other ways to collect revenue.
PSM has sent a memorandum to the Natural Resources and Energy Ministry (Ketsa) with four recommendations to combat deforestation and floods, he said.
Firstly, the party has asked the federal government to place a moratorium on the degazettement of existing protected forests and to control the issuance of permits to those who exploit those resources.
He said the government can restrict the approval of permits in states that cannot show where the natural resources they export come from.
Additionally, PSM also recommended that Putrajaya award funds to states for the purposes of protecting forests and natural resources. States that then fail to undertake such measures would get their funds withdrawn.
“We also suggested to Ketsa to have a centralised and transparent record of logging and other activities in the forests to be accessible to the public, and strengthen existing laws to protect our forests, as well as increase the area of existing forest areas,” Sharan added.
Damien Thanam attributed the excessive rainfall due to climate change and deforestation as the main cause of the floods that have battered various areas.
He explained that the amount of rainfall that hit Malaysia recently has increased.
Due to logging and deforestation, he explained, water travels from highlands to lower flat plains, causing floods during rainy and monsoon seasons.
“Before the forests can regrow or be replanted, water would flow heavily, causing floods. This is because there are no trees to act as a filter or obstacle.
“This then causes a lot of mud and sediment to enter rivers causing huge floods,” he said.
Monoculture is a double-edged sword
Damien and Sharan also touched on the issue of monoculture – the cultivation of a single commercial crop in a given area.
“State governments will use the excuse of “musang king” and palm oil cultivation to enter into pristine areas and start logging,” Damien said.
However, he claimed that such monoculture has not actually given not positive returns to the state.
Sharan said that this is demonstrated in the loss of property caused by floods.
“When they log and ruin our forests, causing floods it also causes the people to lose property which they bear themselves. The government is not going to help them with that,” Sharan said.
The income from logging and farming, Sharan said, would not cover the losses incurred by floods. – The Vibes, January 22, 2021
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