One has to give credit to the Negeri Sembilan menteri besar in reacting quickly to stop illegal logging in the state and at the same time suspending the authority of the state forestry department director with regards to logging activities.
Illegal logging in a forest reserve area can affect the quality of water of the rivers that run through it. This is a criminal act which is unpardonable.
This proactive attitude of the Negeri Sembilan menteri besar should be emulated by other state leaders to stop the destruction of our natural heritage. There untold damage to the environment with green lungs being removed and wildlife displaced form their natural heritage.
A silver lining of the Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam fiasco is that we are seeing several large projects - which only profit their greedy developers - being scaled down. Hopefully, this auger well for the remaining green lungs and that they will not become victims to unsustainable development without a care for nature.
Our mangrove forests, which can act as a barrier against tsunamis, have been systematically cut down in the name of development. It seems ironical for the government to now allocate funds to rehabilitate these areas when if they had been persevered, time-consuming rehabilitation would not have been necessary.
The federal government should take over authority on land matters from the state leaders to solve the problem of state land being given to selected cronies for logging and development. These activities are reducing our quality of living what with flash floods, heat waves and the haze.
One can only hope and pray that the Anti-Corruption Agency can do a good job in nabbing the culprits who have reaped ill-gotten gains from illegal logging in Negeri Sembilan. This will serve as a lesson to others to not to break the law.
Kudos to the Negeri Sembilan CEO who seems to be acting like a good leader in developing the state. If other state leaders emulate his style in tackling problems, it would certainly bring about big dividends in the coming polls.
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