Kampung Cherok Meranti villagers in Bandar Baru, Kedah, are seeing red over the resumption of logging activities which they alleged have polluted their water supply.

This morning, the villagers saw workers felling trees in the nearby Gunung Bongsu forest - three days after state forestry director Kasim Osman had issued a stop-work order on logging works.

"When we confronted them, the workers told us the order was only valid for three days," said Village Security and Development Committee chairperson Shamsul Md Arif when contacted.

"But when we visited the logging site with the director last Tuesday, he did not mention any time period," he added.

Shamsul said Kasim had ordered all logging works to stop because sediment traps were not installed to prevent mud from flowing into the village's water supply according to environmental regulations.

He said logging operations which started in December last year have also adversely affected the water retention pond and water supply pipes on which villagers have depended for 22 years.

According to him, water supply has decreased on account of the mud that often enters the pond and clog the water pipes.

He said villagers have been forced to conduct checks after every rainfall and clean the pond and pipes.

This is compounded by the damage caused by the heavy vehicles and machinery used in the logging area, he pointed out.

Mud floods

Logging works have also brought unprecedented mud floods to Kampung Cherok Meranti which damage houses and the villagers orchards.

Meanwhile, environmental group Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) field researcher Shamsul Eri Samsudin said the problems faced by Kampung Cherok Meranti may spread to the villages of Kampung Sungai Batu, Kampung Gunung Bongsu and Kampung Sungai Kasai if logging operations continue.

Kampung Cherok Meranti villagers are hoping to meet former information minister Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, who is the Bandar Baru parliamentarian, to raise their concerns and submit a memorandum to him.

They hope to press Abdul Kadir on the need to gazette Gunung Bongsu as a permanent forest reserve.

Kasim could not be reached for comments.