KUANTAN, May 1 — Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob has ordered relevant government departments and agencies to immediately investigate allegations that the main cause for Sungai Pahang becoming shallow and dry was due to excessive logging in Hulu Tembeling.

Adnan said the probe was to determine whether the fall in the water level was caused by logging or attributed to other factors such as extreme hot weather due to the El Nino phenomenon currently sweeping the country.

“We cannot say that only Sungai Pahang is drying up because other rivers are also going dry.

“Indeed (no doubt) one of the reasons for Sungai Pahang going dry is due to the clearing of forest for agriculture, logging and as we know there is the construction of the Tekai and Jelai hydro dams going on in the region ...

nevertheless, we will ask the technical department to give a full and accurate report,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters after participating in a charity golf event between the Menteri Besar’s team and the alumni of Sekolah Menengah Sains Sultan Ahmad Shah at the Mahkota Golf and Country Club, here today.

Adnan was commenting on a recent report about Sungai Pahang’s shallow and dry state being attributed to rampant logging activities.

He also said that the water supply problems in some districts in the state  such as Temerloh, Lipis, Bera and Raub was due to old pipes besides the water intake point being dry thus water cannot be sucked into the plant.

In another development, Adnan said the state government through Yayasan Pahang will provide a ‘one off’ assistance to 150 students from the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM), Gombak campus.

Besides students from Pahang, the aid will also be given to students from other states as a sign of concern from the state government and out of respect to Sultan Ahmad Shah as IIUM’s constitutional head and its rector Prof Datuk Seri Dr Zaleha Kamaruddin, who also hails from Pahang.

The charity golf tournament was held to raise funds to help national golfer Shaaban Hussin, 36, who was involved in a road accident while on the way from his house in Kota Damansara to Shah Alam, last Thursday.

Adnan said RM150,000 had been collected from the tournament today and that the amount was expected to increase to RM200,000 with contributions from state companies and individuals, and he himself would hand over the donation to Shaaban next week. — Bernama