Ex-Kedah MB admits he approved durian plantation for rehabilitation
Former Kedah menteri besar Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah today admitted that his administration was the one that approved the large-scale Musang King durian plantation in the Gunung Inas Forest Reserve near Baling.
However, he said, he was not the one who instructed the logging and the approval was to mitigate the impact of the earlier clear-cutting, which left the forested mountainous area bare.
Former Kedah menteri besar Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah today admitted that his administration was the one that approved the large-scale Musang King durian plantation in the Gunung Inas Forest Reserve near Baling.
However, he said, he was not the one who instructed the logging and the approval was to mitigate the impact of the earlier clear-cutting, which left the forested mountainous area bare.
Locals have blamed the durian plantation for devastating floods which killed three and displaced more than a thousand people in downstream villages in Kupang on July 4.
The Environment and Water Ministry said investigations found a catchment pond at the plantation broke on the day of the flood.
Bashah (above), who was menteri besar from Feb 4, 2016, to May 10, 2018, said when he took over office, the clear-cutting was already done.
"At the time, a proposal was made by (joint venture company) ECK Development Sdn Bhd for the area to be turned into a large-scale Musang King durian plantation.
"The reason was to ensure the logged area is protected again by other plants, so there will not be any environmental issues.
"The approval was certainly not for new logging activities because this had already been done,” he said in a statement today.
"So the government's focus was to ensure that the area was protected and rehabilitated after the logging, and was a continuation of activities proposed by other companies responsible for the area before that," he added.
MBs pass the buck
Earlier, his predecessor Mukhriz Mahathir blamed Bashah for approving the plantation.
Mukhriz said under his administration, only 20 percent of the logged area was to be planted with durian and other plants, while 80 percent was to be planted with rubber trees, or timber clone latex, as per conditions for approval by the Department of Environment.
Mukhriz, who led a BN government before Bashah took over, said the area was first logged by the PAS government under the late Azizan Abdul Razak, for the poverty alleviation scheme Ladang Sejahtera.
READ MORE: KINIGUIDE | Through the murky waters and mudslinging of the Baling floods
However, when he took over, the cleared land was not replanted with rubber trees as planned, and a government company was then appointed to do terracing and replanting to avoid land slippage.
Mukhriz was responding to sitting MB Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor and various articles in PAS mouthpiece Harakahdaily, which blamed the Pakatan Harapan administration led by Mukhriz for the durian plantation.
Mukhriz led the BN Kedah government in May 2013 to February 2016 and returned as MB in May 2018 to lead a Pakatan Harapan government until May 2020, when he was succeeded by PAS’ Muhammad Sanusi.
Durian plantation proposal most convincing
Meanwhile, Bashah said there were various other proposals on the table for the cleared Gunung Inas Forest Reserve area, but ECK's proposal was "most convincing".
"We considered various factors including economic, nature, local residents' interest and so on.
"I stress that the government at the time approved the durian plantation proposal to protect the area, as well as for the added interest and returns which was deemed equitable," he said.
He added that at the time he had no intention to politicise the matter and point fingers at other administrations for the clear-cutting, and was focused on finding a solution to the inherited problem.
"I want to stress that this matter should not be over-politicised. Stop blaming each other. Continue with your work and take immediate action," he said.
Residents earlier told Malaysiakini they have never experienced flooding that bad despite living there for decades, even when it rained for days.
However, there were smaller floods reported since the start of the durian plantation upstream.
The plantation project is owned by state investment firm Menteri Besar Kedah Incorporated, as a joint venture with Aman Mega Sdn Bhd.
Aman Mega was bought by ECK Development, the same firm which bought the equity for the RM6 billion Penang undersea tunnel project. ECK Development also signed an agreement with the Kedah government for the multi-billion ringgit Kulim Airport project, which was later terminated.
ECK Development did not respond to requests for comment.
Yesterday, Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said investigations found one of the catchment ponds in the hillside plantation upstream had broken.
"Investigations by the ministry found various reasons for the flooding in Baling. There was only about 40mm of rainfall while in some villages only 36mm was recorded.
"However, it may have been caused by several catchment ponds built in the plantation area, which may have broken. Our preliminary investigation found one pond had broken, possibly causing the flooding (kepala air) to happen," the minister told Parliament.
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