LOGGING and land clearing works in Lentang Forest Reserve, Bentong have encroached into an eco-friendly resort in the area and polluted a nearby river, said environmentalist and resort owner Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil.

Shariffa Sabrina who is president of the Association for the Protection of the Natural Heritage of Malaysia (PEKA), said activities by a licensed logging company had polluted Sg Kenoi at her resort, Tanah Aina Fareena.

She told The Malaysian Insight that at least 6m of her land had been encroached by the company, used as an access road to transport timber out from the forest.

“We appointed a surveyor to confirm the encroachment into our land and we are certain that the logging company has taken access into our land by at least 6m,” she said.

Shariffa Sabrina said she realised there were some activities going on in the forest when she noticed Sg Kenui had become murky and polluted on October 27.

The river flows through her resort.

Upon inspection, Shariffa Sabrina said she discovered that almost 10 acres of Lentang Forest Reserve had been cleared for logging.

She said the land clearance was not only polluting the river and the forest but also could potentially cause landslides as it affects high terrains.

“The resort is worried if the logging and the land clearing works are continued, it will result in landslides, just like what happened on the Karak Highway and Lentang Forest Reserve back in November 11, 2015,” she added.

She said she had lodged a police report on October 28 at the Bentong police station and filed an official complaint to the Pahang Forestry Department (JPNP).

The logging work at the area started on October 15. A notice board at the site states that permission had been granted until January 14.

‘The notice also states that the logging licence is issued to former director-general of the Lands and Mines Department, Azemi Kassim.’

A video clip of an emotional Shariffa Sabrina lashing out at a man for the land clearance work has gone viral on social media.

In the clip, she is heard saying that the land clearance and logging works were not done according to standard operating procedure (SOP).

JPNP director Mohd Hizamri Mohd Yasin meanwhile had said there was no issue of logging in the Tanah Aina resort land, but admitting that encroachment had taken place during activities to build a road to the logging area located in the Bentong district.

He said he had ordered the logging company to clean up the road construction residue that was affecting Sg Kenoi and had also issued a stop-work order for immediate re-evaluation.

“Currently we allow the licensee only to carry out mitigation work in Sg Kenoi, and they started cleaning up work on Friday (October 30),” he said in a statement.

Hizamri also said that the river and the road used to access the cleared area was under the purview of the government.

“Our checks showed that the river was flowing in state land, and the licensee had sought approval from the Bentong Irrigation and Drainage Department to cut across the river.

“The licensee had also sought approval to chop down trees in the area to be made into a bridge across the river.

“The access road which the licensee is building is located on state land, and the licensee had sought approval for that too,” he said.

However he admitted that the licensee had failed to adhere with SOP by polluting the river. – November 4, 2020.