An opposition leader has warned that reports may be filed with the police and Anti-Corruption Agency against those responsible for the mud floods that hit six villages in Singkir, Kedah.

State PAS commissioner Azizan Abdul Razak also urged the state government to initiate legal action against the culprits.

The mud floods which hit these villages on June 25 and 26 were the first in a number of decades, resulting from unregulated logging and quarrying activities, he said.

"We may file reports with the police and the ACA but legal action should be taken up by the governmental authorities," he added when contacted recently.

Azizan reiterated the concern that the works on Bukit Singir, located within the Gunung Jerai forest reserve, were against policy guidelines as set in the Yan District Structure Plan released on June 3, 1997.

The guidelines stipulated that the forest reserve was to be gazetted.

However, he stressed that ordinary villagers had become victims when soil erosion brought about by the felling of trees and quarrying of stones led to the mud floods.

Damages to the villagers' houses were in some cases said to have reached RM5,000.

No compensation

Azizan also reacted angrily to the contention of Husaini Yaakob, the managing director of quarrying operators Kemelong Sdn Bhd and Sankojaya Construction Sdn Bhd, that floods there occurred yearly.

"Yes, floods do occur every year in the area. (But) there is a difference between floods caused by (overflowing ) rivers and mud floods that flow down from a hill," said the PAS leader.

Husaini also dismissed the need to compensate the villagers as trips to the area 'revealed' no extensive damages that warranted such a move.

"Our insurance company has surveyed the area. The villagers stand to be compensated up to RM2 million if there was damage to their property, but the insurer found no grounds (for payment)," he said.

'Stop-work' order

On Monday, the 'Action Committee Against Bukit Singkir Quarrying Project' submitted a protest letter to Kedah Menteri Besar Syed Razak Syed Zain.

Bernama then reported that the menteri besar issued a stop-work order on any quarrying operations in the area.

He was also reported to have said that the state government would set up an investigating committee, made up of representatives from various departments to look into the complaints.

Syed Razak said the future of quarrying works would depend on the findings of the investigation committee as well as studies into the impact of the works on the eco-system.

In a statement on Monday, Azizan called for the cancellation of the whole project in order to protect the interests of the people.

Meanwhile, the action committee has also called for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's intervention.

In a letter, dated Aug 11, committee chairperson Jamil Mohd Ali urged the premier to issue a 'stop-work' order.

He said the committee had no other choice since the Kedah Department of Environment (DOE) has yet to act on the matter, despite the risks posed to villagers.

Satisfactory measures

In a letter to the department's headquarters in Putrajaya last month, Kedah DOE director Mohamed Ishak Thani wrote that the measures taken by the quarry operator to prevent environmental pollution and erosion were satisfactory.

He also stated that a detailed Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study was not needed on grounds that quarrying on slopes less than 25 degrees in gradient does not require this.

State Forestry Department director Wan Yusoff Wan Ahmad, in a letter to Sahabat Alam Malaysia sent earlier this month, said approval had been obtained to exclude the area from the proposed forest reserve.

A copy of both letters was made available to malaysiakini .

Officials of the departments of environment and forestry could not be reached for comment.