IPOH, Aug 26 — Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad said that the authorities will investigate the cause behind the drifting logs that emerged during the water surge that damaged the Jambatan Lama Sungai Slim (Slim Village) on Jalan Slim River - Behrang Hulu recently.
Saarani said this includes any land clearing activities that took place near the area of the incident, including for the purpose of farming and durian plantation.
“In the latest Malaysia Plan there is a compulsory regulation that needs to be followed by an individual where they need to obtain planning permission if they want to develop the land for whatever purposes, including development and farming.
“The person needs to submit their planning permission to the Country and Town Planning Department. If they don’t do it, then the (project) is fail.
“Similarly, their project should also have the environment impact assessment (EIA) report approval,” he said.
He said the authorities will check if the farming and plantation projects in the surrounding area have the approval for EIA and planning permissions.
Saarani said that investigations will be carried out immediately after the matter discussed in the state executive councillors meeting, which will take place on Wednesday.
Recently, Harian Metro reported that a total of 400 out of 1,000 Musang King durian trees were planted in a hilly area of 43 hectares of land involving three phases in Kampung Pasir, Slim River to boost the state as the premium durian production.
However, it was unclear if the durian tree plantation is located near the area of the water surge incident.
Separately, Saarani also said that the drifting logs from the recent water surge are not waste logs from land clearing activity under the management of the Perak Forestry Department.
“Even if there are some logs, then it should be the old ones and not from recent activities.
“We also can’t deny if there were log waste from the land clearing activities for farming purposes.
“Because previously when they clear the land for farming purposes, they will eventually burn the logs. But now we are not allowing them to do open burning. So they will just leave the logs to rot,” he said.
Saarani also said that Public Works Department’s (JKR) slope unit will continue to monitor areas around the state that are risk prone for water surge incidents.
“We also advise everyone to take this recent water surge incident as an example in order to be more cautious and ready to face such unfortunate events, especially those living near rivers,” he said.
Continuous heavy rain in the Tanjung Malim district since Friday afternoon has led to flooding and water surge incidents, causing the collapse of three bridges, including the Slim Village bridge, damage to a water intake facility, and affecting hundreds of residents.
The incident also caused the bridge connecting Risda Eco Park Resort with the main road to collapse, preventing rescue teams from accessing the area.
