The Star, Malaysia : New EIA to be submitted for Kedah heli-logging

Sunday, March 30, 2003

New EIA to be submitted for Kedah heli-logging

By EMBUN MAJID

ALOR STAR: A new environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the proposed heli-logging project in several forest reserves in Kedah will be submitted soon.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Syed Razak Syed Zain said the new report would contain a review of several technical factors.

“In principle, the Department of Environment did not reject the EIA report, but noted several technical factors which needed to be looked at,” he said after launching the centralised quit rent payment centre here yesterday.

The centre will enable the public to pay their quit rent without needing to queue up at the land office. Such centres will also be set up in Sungai Petani and Kulim.

Kedah has approved in principle the project to log 122,798ha at the Ulu Muda, Chebar Besar, Padang Terap, Pedu, Bukit Saiong and Bukit Keramat forest reserves.

WTK Holdings, which has an 80% stake in the project, has said the aerial logging method would have minimal environmental impact as helicopters would airlift the felled trees.

However, conservation groups and padi farmers in the Muda Irrigation Scheme argued logging would threaten water supply as the forest reserves were vital water catchment areas.

Syed Razak said the state government would ensure that the logging would not jeopardise the areas’ ecology system.

On Friday, DOE director-general Rosnani Ibarahim said the EIA on the heli-logging project was not accepted as it failed to meet the department’s requirements. She said among other things, the report was incomplete and the steps recommended to minimise the environmental impact of logging were insufficient.