Article: Erosion watch at Bukit Larut

Tuesday July 28, 2009

By CHRISTINA KOH

The Perak Government will direct the developer of the Tea Garden Restaurant project on Bukit Larut in Taiping to take precautionary measures to prevent severe erosion.

State Health, Local Government, Consumer Affairs, Environment, Public Transportation and Non-Islamic Affairs Committee chairman Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon said the developer was now clearing the land for the project's septic tank system.

He told reporters after a recent inspection of the project site 636m above sea level that the state would ensure that the developer planted grass cover once the clearing was done.

He said the Department of Environment would monitor the situation.

Dr Mah said this following complaints that Bukit Larut, a popular tourist destination and sensitive water catchment area, was appa-rently being threatened by erosion and indiscriminate dumping of rubbish.

The RM4mil Tea Garden project, a coffee house built under the Ninth Malaysia Plan to cater to visitors and trekkers, is expected to be completed in July next year.

Dr Mah said a check on a nearby hostel project, costing RM3.7mil under the state government, showed no signs of erosion as alleged.

"The foundation looks solid and an additional RM900,000 was spent on slope protection.

"This shows that we are very serious on this issue," he added.

He said natural erosion was bound to happen on any mountain or hill.

"What's more important are the measures we took to deal with it," he added.

On Fomca president Datuk N. Marimuthu's statement on the hill's environmental damage that was carried in the media, Dr Mah said the state government welcomed the views and help of the consumer association group.

He stressed that the state was not trying to hide anything, adding that he and various state department heads had themselves come forward to investigate the reports.

He disputed Marimuthu's complaints of illegal logging at Bukit Larut, saying that he found no signs of logging activities and that it was not possible to bring timber down the hill's narrow road.

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Metro: North 28 July 2009