THE Gunung Jerai disaster was an act of God, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Takiyuddin Hassan told the Dewan Rakyat today.

“We are disheartened over the disaster. This is an act of God,” he said in response to a supplementary question by Sabri Azit (Jerai-PAS) on the measures taken by the government to ensure that the forest area leading to the peak of the mountain is sustained. 

However, Takiyuddin’s remark was rebuked immediately by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who told him not to blame God for what could have been the deed of humans. 

“Don’t blame God for problems in nature. Sometimes (it is the deed) of humans,” Anwar said. 

“How do you know it is an act of God when greedy humans may have damaged the forest.”  

Responding to this, Takiyuddin said he based his claim on the fact that no logging activity has taken place at Gunung Jerai.

“I went to the place and I saw the trees that were uprooted; they came off with their roots. This shows that there was no logging on Gunung Jerai,” he said. 

“This is what we call an act of God.” 

Last month, a hill resort, several villages and residential areas around the area were hit by floods, believed to have been caused by the upstream water rush phenomenon at the waterfall near Gunung Jerai.

Takiyuddin said the Ulu Muda forest reserve, which encompasses Gunung Jerai, was gazetted as a national geo-park and, therefore, the mountain is a protected area with no logging activity. 

He said 12% of the 106,000ha of the Ulu Muda forest reserve are protected areas while 88% are available for logging. However, the Kedah government has confirmed that no logging licences were issued for logging at Ulu Muda. 

This is despite logging licences being issued by the state for 25,000ha of forest areas between 2014 and 2019. 

“But there was no logging in the Ulu Muda area,” Takiyuddin said. 

He added that the government has allocated RM75 million for the restoration of forest areas, including Gunung Jerai. – September 20, 2021.