Despite Prime Minister Najib Razak referring the case of Tasik Chini's deterioration to the Pahang MB, the state government continues to remain tight lipped, claims Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M).

NONE TI-M secretary-general Josie M Fernandez ( right ) said that when Prime Minister Najib Razak referred TI-M to the Pahang menteri besar's office to resolve the issue, there was no response from them.

She was responding to the question posed by a reporter on whether the government is serious about the Tasik Chini situation after launching the documentary Hacking at Harmony: Tasik Chini An Ecosystem on the Brink on Wednesday.

The NGO has warned that the country's only Unesco biosphere is in danger of ecological collapse by 2030 if mining and logging activities close to the lake continue unabated.

"Let me be fair to the prime minister; when we submitted the memorandum, he acted very fast," she said adding that they were in constant contact with the PM's secretary.

She explained that Najib got in touch with some departments such as the Pekan District Office, Jabatan Orang Asli in Pekan and the Forestry Department with their memorandum asking for their responses.

"Finally, after many exchanges he said ‘Can you deal with the menteri besar of Pahang? We have done our best'

"So that is why we used the prime minister's response to go to the menteri besar. But the menteri besar is not responding," Josie said.

NONE She confirmed that the Orang Asli and TI-M first submitted the memorandum highlighting the logging and mining activities within Tasik Chini's vicinity as well as recommendations for its rehabilitation on April 10 this year.

Fernandez also told of a meeting with the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in September to form a cabinet committee.

The cabinet committee is apparently established to clean up the mining with a budget approved for that purpose.

NONE "Little progress has been made: they have not given us feedback (on) what this cabinet committee been doing, how far it's been going and getting reports from the ground - nothing has been done," she lamented.

"And the mining has become more ferocious," she added that she received calls from the Orang Asli reporting on night time mining activities.

Fernandez was mainly fielding queries on the distribution of the documentary, its purpose and TI-M's further actions.

She stated that the video's aim is "multi-pronged" which TI-M plans to distribute copies of to members of the parliament and to the public.

The documentary would be made available after it's been updated with the latest at the lake and it is also part of the Save Tasik Chini campaign launched in August 12.