Sunday 19 May 2013 PP3057/03/2013 (No. 19637) (031623) Peninsula RM1.50, Sabah RM2.00, Sarawak RM1.20

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no longer pristine: Clockwise -­­­­ Gunung Perdah, apopular hiking area in Tanah Rata, is now a shell of itsformer glory, the Ulu Telom river muddied by massive soilerosion due to unsustainable clearing methods and majorearthworks going on opposite Gunung Perdah.— noraFiFi ehSan/the Star

The ravaginggoes onThe destruction ofCameron Highlandscontinues, with some40ha of virgin forestchopped down in thelatest spate of landclearing which beganless than a month ago.The bulk of the ravagingat Pos Terisu spans atleast four valleys andhills which are beingflattened for farmers toplant vegetables. > SeePages 3 and 4 for reports byiSabelle lai

EXCLUSIVE

�Sunday Star, 19 May 2013 NATION

Hills ‘raped’ at an alarming rate

Cameron Highlands’ pristine virginjungle being cleared with impunityBy ISABELLE LAIisabellelai@thestar.com.my

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Unsustainable landclearing is continuing on a staggering scalehere, with pristine virgin jungle the size ofnumerous football fields chopped down tomake way for agriculture conversion.

A large portion of the land clearing is takingplace away from the public eye, as excavatorsand tractors are kept busy deep in the heart ofthe jungle, a good hour’s drive from the mainroad.

The bulk of the clearing at Pos Terisu spans atleast four hills and valleys, the fresh red earthan ugly scar on the remaining green areas.

Some no longer resemble hills as deepshelves have been cut into the land which isflattened so that farmers can start plantingvegetables.

A check by The Star showed workers operat-ing the machines at weekends, which is pro-hibited.

Erosion has affected many of the streams,with the water flowing sluggishly over silt-clogged channels into the rivers.

The clearing is done in areas with very steepslopes, posing a huge danger of landslideswhen it rains. The road leading to the areas isriddled with huge potholes while one sectionhas partially crumbled.

Regional Environmental AwarenessCameron Highlands president R. Ramakrishnansaid the areas in the latest spate of clearing,which began less than a month ago, spannedover 40ha.

He said he had made two or three visits tothe areas and observed the rate of clearing hadaccelerated during the elections.

“The Land Office staff was seconded to theElection Commission. This left the culprits freeto do whatever they wanted, including bring-ing in prohibited heavy machinery.

“The rapid destruction has been stunning,”he said, adding that as many as three excava-

tors and 20 tractors had been spotted in onearea.

He pointed to a cleared area on both sides ofthe Ulu Telom river, which supplies water tothe Ulu Jelai hydroelectric dam.

Some of the felled trees had rolled down thesides of the river, while its banks were mostlyjust slopes of red earth.

He warned that the Ulu Jelai dam would suf-fer the same fate as the Sultan Abu Bakar damin Habu if the clearing was not halted immedi-ately.

“The Sultan Abu Bakar dam suffered fromuncontrolled land clearing. Massive soil ero-sion happened and its turbines were affected,so it couldn’t function effectively,” he said.

He noted that clearing on such a huge scalewas illegal and wondered why the authoritieshad not acted to stop it.

The Star reported in December that contin-ued land clearing over the past decade hadcaused serious damage to the iconic tourismand agriculture destination, including waterpollution due to improper sewage disposal,pesticide run-off and soil erosion.

Ramakrishnan said that his organisation hadbeen highlighting environmental problems inCameron Highlands for the past 13 years with-out getting any concrete solutions.

“This is happening due to influential peoplewho are backing the culprits. It is the unholytrinity of inept politicians, (allegedly) corruptofficials and greedy farmers,” he said.

“If Cameron Highlands is to be saved, theremust be intervention from the very top at thefederal level.”

iSnap me for a video on the land clearing in Cameron Highlands

Stripped bare:Tractors beingused to level thehills in CameronHighlands. —Videography bySyaWaLLUDINZaIN

This is happening due toinfluential people whoare backing the culprits.— R. RAMAKRISHNAN

NATION Sunday Star, 19 May 2013�

Kedah to freeze logging activities pending reviewALORSETAR:TheKedahGovernmenthas temporarily stopped loggingactivities in the state pending astudy on their impact on the envi-ronment and the people’s liveli-hood.

Mentri Besar Datuk Mukhriz TunMahathir said this followed com-plaints from villagers that loggingactivities in their areas had affectedthe supply and quality of water.

“Logging activities in the state will

be temporarily ceased to enable usto conduct the environmental impactassessment (EIA) in areas involved.

“They will resume upon the EIA’srecommendations,” he said at athanksgiving reception at SeriMentaloon, the menteri besar’s offi-cial residence, here yesterday.

Mukhriz said he wanted to ensurethat loggers abide by the conditionsimposed on logging activities.

“If there is any valid complaint,

backed by concrete evidence thatthe conditions are not compliedwith, I will not hesitate to stop thelogging activity immediately.

“I want all logging concessionsgiven to be reviewed. We want toensure the people’s interest comesfirst. In future, as far as possible, Iwill not approve any more loggingconcession.

“I think we have enough loggingactivities in the state. We have to

find other sources of income forKedah.

“To me, a tree is worth morestanding than felled. There arepotentials and opportunities fortourism and other industries (togrow),” he added.

Regarding the controversial state-owned Insaniah University Collage(Kuin), Mukhriz said he had mettheir top management, includingrector Prof Dr Jamil Osman, over the

problems faced by the institution.The mentri besar said state

Education, Transport and Workscommittee chairman Datuk TajulUrus Mat Zain would look intoKuin’s problems and report on anew direction for Kuin.

“We will talk to other partiesinvolved. Most importantly, we willsafeguard the welfare of Kuin’s stu-dents and staff first before that of themanagement,” he said. — Bernama

Scenic mountain no moreGunung Perdahravaged fordevelopmentand left exposedBy ISABELLE LAIisabellelai@thestar.com.my

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: This area of lush high-land forests, scenic beauty and bio-diversityhas lost yet another tourism and recreationdestination.

The Gunung Perdah hiking trail, situated inSungai Ruil, Tanah Rata, is linked to GunungJasar, a forest reserve often visited by naturelovers.

A Google check on Gunung Perdah revealsnumerous blog links by nature lovers, whohad documented their hiking adventures atthe two mountains.

But the mountain, which is located onstate land, has now been ravaged for devel-opment to the extent that little of its virginjungle has been left to boast about.

A site visit showed that a huge portion ofthe mountain slope has become exposedearth with the areas surrounding it similarlycleared.

Further down the road opposite the moun-tain, completed houses stand in rows and arebelieved to be selling for about RM500,000each.

“At the rate the clearing is being done, theentire mountain will be gone soon.

“Among the casualties are felled cinnamontrees, which were bulldozed without anyconsideration to conserve them,” saidRegional Environmental Awareness CameronHighlands (Reach) president R.Ramakrishnan.

He questioned how the authorities allowedthe destruction to take place, as GunungPerdah had been used as a landmark in themap of Cameron Highlands besides attract-ing hordes of tourists.

He hoped that Cameron Highlands MP andnewly appointed Natural Resources andEnvironment Minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivelwould look into the matter seriously.

“We suspect there are higher powersinvolved. This is why the local authorities arekeeping silent,” he said, pointing out thatGunung Perdah was located just off the mainroad from Tanah Rata to Brinchang.

Ramakrishnan also expressed concern overthe wanton practice of “bulldoze and bury”,

under which felled trees were just buriedunder the soil.

He said this could cause long-term prob-lems for future housing owners when thetrees rot and cause the soil to sink.

Located near the foot of Gunung Perdah isthe orang asli village of Kampung SungaiRuil, where a devastating landslide in August2011 killed four women and three men, andseriously wounded two other people.

The villagers were moved out into a tem-porary settlement in Brinchang but havebeen waiting for two years for their newhouses in Sungai Ruil to be ready.

Assistant village head ShamsuddinBahzainal, 39, lamented the fate of the moun-

tain, which was the favourite destination ofvillagers.

Tour guide P. Balan, 36, a third-generationlocal resident, slammed the continuous clear-ing work, saying this would drive the touristsaway.

He said there had been a drop in thenumber of Western tourists, who flock toCameron Highlands more for its nature trailsrather than for the farm produce.

“If this doesn’t stop, Cameron Highlandswon’t be any different from Ipoh. The weath-er has already become significantly warmer,”he said, adding that most of the developmentwas done by outsiders who had investedmoney there.

From forest tofarmland: aworker busypreparing theland for farmingat a cleared areain Pos Terisu.

Recently highlighted cases:

OCTOBER> The Star front-paged a series of reports

citing illegal land clearing activitiestaking place throughout CameronHighlands, namely in Mensun Valley,Brinchang and Tanah Rata.

> District Officer Datuk Ahmad Daud saidhe suspected insiders were leakinginformation to the culprits, resulting inunsuccessful raids.

> MACC announced it would start aprobe to investigate whether it wastrue.

> Former Cameron Highlands MP DatukS.K. Devamany had called for stricterenforcement and a stronger legislativeframework to address the issue.

DECEMBER> The Star front-paged a series of reports

giving an overview of massive andunsustainable land clearing in

Cameron Highlands.> It revealed that some farmers either did

not have permits or flouted regulationswhen carrying out the land clearings.

> Water pollution due to pesticiderun-off, improper sewage disposal andsoil erosion has also affected the healthof residents as well as drinking watersupply.

> Many farmers have also illegally tappedwater from forest reserves to irrigatetheir farms.

> Enforcement officers revealed theysometimes risked bodily harm andfeared for their lives when they tried tostop illegal clearing activities.

> Pahang Sultan Ahmad Shah expresseddispleasure at the culprits and calledfor all such illegal activities to stop,adding that those caught would betaken to court.

Land clearing in Cameron HighlandsThe latest spate of land clearing in Cameron Highlands is happening at Pos Terisu. It spans at least four hills and valleys and began less thana month ago. Clearing has been done in areas with very steep slopes, posing a huge danger of landslides once the rains come. GunungPerdah in Tanah Rata has also been ravaged for development, to the extent that little of its virgin jungle is left.

PAHANG

SouthChina Sea

Brinchang

Sungai Bertam

Tanah Rata

Habu

KELANTAN

PERAK

Cameron Highlands

Pos TerisuGunung Perdah

Monday 20 May 2013 PP1641/03/2013 (No. 19638) (031549) Peninsula RM1.20, Sabah RM1.80, Sarawak RM1.20

Yet another vast area of virgin jungle has been found stripped barein Cameron Highlands, even as newly-appointed Natural Resourcesand Environment Minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel announced aspecial task force to work with the Pahang government to stopthe ravage of the hills. The rampant clearing of slopes and poorenforcement have led to residents voicing accusations of corruptionand protection of the guilty by powerful forces.> See reports on Page 4 by ISABELLE LAI

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Saving theSavingHighlands

Laid bare: Massive landclearing is being done upstreamof the Kuala Terla watertreatment plant, which suppliesmore than 60% of water toTanah Rata up to KampungRaja. The farms seen next to thecleared land are also upstreamof the water intake for the plant.— NORAFIFI EHSAN / The Star

CameronHighlands

KampungRaja

KampungRaja

Brinchang

Tanah Rata

Sg WiSg Telum

10ha of land cleared

EXCLUSIVE

NATION� The Star, Monday 20 May 2013

Dept: Less than 1% of forests being illegally loggedIPOH: Less than 1% of the more than4.7 million hectares of forest reservesin the peninsula are being illegallylogged.

Peninsular Malaysia ForestryDepartment director-general DatukDr Abdul Rahman Abdul Rahim saidthere was a misconception that ille-gal logging activities were rampantand unchecked.

He said people misunderstood

that logging activities were conduct-ed at forest reserves.

“In the peninsula, we have about5.6 million hectares of forest land.This is inclusive of forest reserves,government land and privately-owned land,” he said, adding thatonly a small fraction of forestreserves in the peninsula was affect-ed and that illegal logging was undercontrol.

Dr Abdul Rahman was speaking toreporters at the opening of the jointcelebrations of the 67th anniversaryof RTM, International Forest Day andWorld Communication Day by PerakMentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr ZambryAbdul Kadir here yesterday.

Dr Abdul Rahman, however,declined to comment on the report-ed destruction of 40ha of virgin for-est in Cameron Highlands.

“We’ll leave it to the ministry con-cerned to answer on the matter. I’min no position to do so,” he said.

The issue was frontpaged inSunday Star which reported that thebulk of the alleged ravaging at PosTerisu spans at least four valleys andhills being flattened to plant vegeta-bles.

Dr Abdul Rahman, however,thanked the media for highlighting

matters pertaining to illegal loggingactivities.

In his opening speech, Dr Zambrysaid Perak had planted some 10.9million trees under the 1Citizen 1Treeinitiative since 2010.

“I believe we can plant aboutanother two million trees to makePerak a greener state,” he said,reminding that the national targetwas to plant 26 million trees.

Stern action to be taken against the culpritsCAMERON HIGHLANDS: Those caughtcarrying out illegal land clearing willbe arrested immediately, saidCameron Highlands Land and DistrictOfficer Datuk Ahmad Daud.

He said he had directed hisenforcement officers to conduct araid in the wake of The Star’s reportyesterday over the extensive clear-ing of slopes in Pos Terisu.

Over 40ha of land spread over fourvalleys and hills were found strippedof forests in less than a month, withthe areas levelled for vegetable farm-ing.

Ahmad said his office had no prior

knowledge of the activities, as thelocation was deep in the heart of thejungle.

“We only found out about it fromThe Star. I am very angry with theseculprits.

“If they are caught, we will bringthem to court,” he said.

Ahmad said it was difficult todetect illegal clearing in CameronHighlands because it was donesecretly behind the hills.

He said he would investigatewhether the orang asli living therehad “leased” the land illegally to thefarmers who wanted to open up

new areas to grow vegetables.Ahmad said he would also probe

the ruins of Gunung Perdah, whereused to host a popular hiking traillinked to Gunung Jasar.

He urged the public to report anyclearing occurrence to the DistrictOffice so immediate investigationsand actions could be taken.

On the unsuccessful raids so far,he said perhaps someone had leakedinformation to the workers to pre-vent them from getting caught at thesites.

However, he said he could notspeculate on who the culprits were,

adding that it could also be peopleoutside his office.

During The Star’s site visit, aninterview with the village chief’sstepdaughter confirmed that someof the orang asli had “leased” someareas of land to the farmers foraround RM600 a month.

Saimah Ajok, 33, said that althoughher stepfather had forbidden suchpractices, some people still did it.

“They go about it in a curi-curi(stealthy) way. Whoever bringsthem (the farmers) there will getpaid,” she said.

She said there were too many

farms in the area and the resultingwater pollution from pesticides andland clearing had made the riverunusable.

Saimah said the orang asli couldstill get clean drinking water fromthe mountain but could no longeruse the river water flowing pasttheir village.

“We still bathe the small childrenin the river sometimes. Some of ushave also suffered from diarrhoea aswell as skin problems,” she said,adding that heavy rains brought theworry of floods and landslidesbecause of soil erosion.

Task force formed to salvage CameronsPart of jungle stripped bare even asministry moves in to tackle problemBy ISABELLE LAIisabellelai@thestar.com.my

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: A specialtask force to be set up under theNatural Resources and EnvironmentMinistry will work with the PahangGovernment to tackle the wide-spread ravage of Cameron High-lands.

But even as newly-appointedMinister Datuk Seri G. Palanivelannounced this yesterday, anotherhuge tract of virgin jungle was foundstripped bare to make way for morevegetable farms.

The ongoing uncontrolled clearingof jungle slopes has led to residentsto voice accusations of corruptioninvolving officials and protection bypowerful hidden forces.

The latest area of rape, spreadover about 10ha, is located upstreamof the crucial Kuala Terla watercatchment area. Part of it is behind asteep hill and hidden from view.

Palanivel, who is also CameronHighlands MP, said the wantondestruction of the hills must bestopped.

“The ministry has its plans in line.It will be my duty to implementthem and initiate further action,” hetold The Star.

He said the special task force wasnecessary because the highlandsneeded urgent attention to safe-guard them from further harm, add-ing that remedial work to repairexisting damage was costly.

The minister said unbridled dam-age had also led to poor water qual-ity in the rivers, siltation, soil erosionand frequent landslides in manyplaces.

“Many people’s lives are affectedbecause they rely on the rivers astheir source of water, especially theorang asli,” he said

Environmental organisations,

including the locally based RegionalEnvironmental Awareness CameronHighlands (Reach), have repeatedlyhighlighted illegal land clearingcases over the years.

Reach president R. Ramakrishnanexpressed his frustration over thedire situation and ineffectiveenforcement methods of the author-ities.

“The lack of enforcement has ledmany locals to believe wide-spread corruption is taking place,”he said.

A check at the latest cleared siteshowed workers busy levelling theterrain behind the hill using an exca-vator and four tractors.

They stopped abruptly upon real-ising they were being filmed.

Apparently, the workers had beenpushing felled tree trunks and boul-ders into a valley where a streammerges with Sungai Icat.

Sungai Icat flows into Sungai Terla,where water is drawn from thecatchment area.

The Kuala Terla water treatmentplant, located downstream, supplies60% of water to Tanah Rata andKampung Raja.

The stream is now choked by siltand felled trees, while farm wastesuch as fertiliser bags are foundstrewn near the water.

Ramakrishnan said the authorities

were supposed to close down thefarms when the issue was first high-lighted but had allowed them togrow to a staggering 80 in just a fewyears.

He said enforcement officers fromthe Land Office had visited the placein early May.

“But they came back empty-hand-ed as the workers had left the site.Most likely, they had been informedof the raid.

“This is why I believe that eitherthe local authorities or somebodyhigh up is backing the culprits,” hesaid.

Another patch of steep slope inPerlong Valley is also being clearedbehind the Kuala Terla water treat-ment plant, with a large stream nextto it already showing a massive pile

up of silt.The Star reported in December

that the silted-up stream had over-flowed its boundaries during therainy season and caused a portion ofthe only road leading into the area tocave in completely.

A culvert has now been built underthe repaired road, which has not yetbeen tarred, to direct the flow intoSungai Telom, downstream of thewater intake.

“The culvert has made things evenworse. Instead of trapping the silt, itis now an open channel for all thesilt to flow into Sungai Telom,”Ramakrishnan said.

Malaysian Nature Society presi-dent Prof Dr Maketab Mohamed saidthat as Sungai Telom flows into thenew Ulu Jelai hydroelectric dam, the

sedimentation would affect the tur-bines and cause the dam to fill upquickly.

“When I studied CameronHighlands’ waters about five yearsago, there were about 20 vegetablefarms upstream. Now, there are 80,”he said sadly.

He led the Universiti TeknologiMalaysia study in Oct 2008, whichdetected E.coli bacteria at the SungaiTerla and Ulu Bertam watersheds,revealing contamination fromunsanitary worker toilets and fromfertilisers such as chicken drop-pings.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysiaresearchers detected two toxic andillegal pesticides – DDT and lindane– in Sungai Telom and Sungai Bertamlast year.

iSnap me for more photos and video on the widespread rampage of Cameron Highlands

The lack ofenforcement hasled many locals tobelieve widespreadcorruption is takingplace.— R. RAMAKRISHNAN

Crying hills: Workers busy levelling freshly cleared terrain upstream of the Kuala Terla water treatment plant, which supplies60% of water to Tanah Rata and Brinchang. — Videography by SyaWaLLUdIn ZaIn / The Star

By ISABELLE LAIisabellelai@thestar.com.my

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: The Districtand Land Office raided four areas inPos Terisu for illegal land clearingbut only managed to tear down theworkers’ quarters as all the machin-ery had been removed.

When enforcement officersarrived at around 11am yesterday,the cleared areas were empty ofworkers and machines.

Fresh excavator tracks could beseen along the side of the only roadleading into the area inhabited bythe orang asli, possibly made lessthan 24 hours earlier.

The Star had reported on Sundaythat over 40ha of virgin jungle hadbeen destroyed for farming activi-ties, with excavators and tractorsspotted working over the weekend.

Following the report, DistrictOfficer Datuk Ahmad Daud instruct-ed that the raid take place and saidhis officers would confiscate anymachinery.

He expressed disappointment atthe outcome of yesterday’s raid, say-ing those involved might have beentipped off by media coverage.

“We will keep going back to thearea and conduct continuous moni-toring. If we spot the workers andmachinery being used, then we willtake action,” said Ahmad.

Fifteen officers from his office, ledby Abdul Rahim Sulaiman, werejoined by five officers from thePahang Land and Mines Office, ledby Mokhtar Mohd Yunus.

The 20 officers in a four-vehicleconvoy, stopped first at a hilltopclearing which already had an illegalfarm, complete with furnished work-ers’ quarters including a toilet.

The existing farm plots showeddifferent stages of vegetable growth,while seedlings and pesticides werealso found.

Abdul Rahim had ordered all theworkers’ belongings, including a TV,DVD player and a chicken coop, withfour chickens inside, removed.

They then used machetes and axesto tear down the structure as well asthe water pipes and sprinklers.

Another workers’ quarters whichlooked new and were empty, werealso taken apart nearby.

Their attempts to destroy a steelbridge down the road built to enablemachinery to cross into yet anothercleared area failed as they did nothave the right tools.

The officers hammered sign-boards, warning against trespassingon state land, at the four areas.

Ahmad said his men would returnto tear down the bridge, adding thatthey would also investigate the issueof “leased land” by the orang asli.

He also denied allegations of cor-ruption within his office.

“We are the same as any otherdepartment. Sometimes we havesuccessful enforcement activities,and sometimes we don’t get to catchthe culprits,” he said, insisting thatthey had made many seizures ofmachinery in the past.

NATION �The Star, Tuesday 21 May 2013

PAS absent,so councilobtainscourt’sjudgmentKUALA LUMPUR: The KemamanMunicipal Council has obtained ajudgment in default against PAS afterthe political party failed to appear incourt over a RM5mil defamation suitfiled by the council.

High Court’s Justice Rosilah Yopyesterday allowed the council’sapplication for a judgment indefault of appearance with RM2,000in costs.

Speaking to the media later, leadcounsel Azwan Abdul Wahab saidthe judge had set June 13 for generaland special damages to be assessed.

He said PAS had not responded tothe suit although it was served withthe document on April 8.

In its lawsuit filed on March 22,the council claimed that PAS haddefamed it through leaflets distrib-uted during a Hari Raya event inChukai, Terengganu, last year.

The council alleged PAS haddefamed it in leaflets over the build-ing and maintenance of its zoo.

It claimed the two-page leafletsimplied that the council had misusedpublic funds and built a zoo that gaveno benefit to the local people.

The council said the contents hadmeant that it had been careless in itsfinancial management of the zoo andwas therefore untrustworthy andunethical.

Among others, the council soughtfor RM5mil in general damages forlibel and to stop PAS from furtherpublishing and distributing the leaf-lets.

In its statement of claim, the coun-cil said it would prove to the courtthat the leaflets contained false andlibellous statements besides refer-ring to the council as being responsi-ble for the zoo.

It said its solicitor had sent to PASa letter, dated Jan 16, seeking for anapology but the party chose not togive any explanation.

Pos Terisu areas raidedOfficers find illegal farms cleared of workers and machines

Exclusive

Land clearing done legally, says AdnanBy SIMON KHOO and ISABELLE LAInewsdesk@thestar.com.my

KUANTAN: The clearing of land inPos Terisu, Cameron Highlands,was done in accordance with thelaws for the benefit of orang aslivillagers, Pahang Mentri BesarDatuk Seri Adnan Yaakob said.

Adnan said an agreement wassigned between the Orang AsliDevelopment Department and aprivate firm to develop about 24.28ha of agriculture land.

“The agreement was signed forfive years effective from July 2006to June 2011 to develop the land forcultivation purposes for RM5,500per ha per year,” he said after chair-ing a special executive councillorsmeeting here yesterday.

Adnan said since 2008, 55 orangasli families received RM800 eachper year from the company and the

payment was raised to RM1,800each in 2009, RM2,400 in 2010 andRM4,040 in 2011.

“The process is all in order anddoes not involved any element ofcorruption and abuse of power asalleged by some quarters.

“However, in my opinion,although nobody should be faulted,the activity is detrimental to theenvironment and affect the lives ofresidents in Cameron Highlandswhich is definitely not good,” hesaid.

He said the state governmentwould take action to prevent fur-ther deterioration to the environ-ment.

Adnan said he had contacted andthanked Regional EnvironmentalAwareness Cameron Highlandspresident R. Ramakrishnan forhighlighting the issue.

On Sunday, The Star front-paged

a report of land-clearing activitiesin Pos Terisu with at least four val-leys and hills being flattened forfarmers to plant vegetables.

Ramakrishnan, meanwhile, saidAdnan was mistaken about thelocation of several areas in PosTerisu that have undergone mas-sive land clearing.

He said the land clearing thatAdnan referred to was in anotherarea entirely.

“The areas highlighted by TheStar are new areas of land beingcleared that had begun less than amonth ago, two years after theagreement expired. The new areasare in Pos Terisu but beyondKampung Sg Jarik,” he said.

Ramakrishnan pointed out thateven District and Land Officer DatukAhmad Daud was unaware of thesenew clearings prior to the newsreport.

When met, Kampung Sg Jarik vil-lage chief Johari Along, 44, said theorang asli did not approve of thenew areas which had been cleared.

He said their agreements withthe farmers were done on a smallerscale, whereby the orang asli fami-lies who wanted their own farmplots would clear the land manual-ly.

“Those who allow their land tobe farmed on commercial basis willreceive RM300 monthly and theland would be returned to themafter five years,” he said.

Johari’s brother Yusof, 52, as wellas another villager, Ismail Garak,48, lamented the loss of the areathat had been illegally cleared.

Ismail said there had once beenpetai trees as well as other foodsources which they had plantedthere. The nearby burial site hadalso been destroyed.

Five arrested inraid atgambling densIPOH: Police have arrested five menand seized 63 computers, believedto be for gambling activities, duringa raid at several premises in TamanCempaka here.

Ipoh OCPD Asst Comm Sum ChangKeong said police began their raid atfive gambling dens last week.

“The four-hour raid ended at about2am and we have taken back thecomputers to the district police sta-tion,” he said yesterday.

ACP Sum said the five men, agedbetween 25 and 35, were believed tobe the supervisors of the premisesand had been released on police bail.

On another unrelated incident,ACP Sum said three suspects hadattempted to cart away an ATM inChemor between Sunday night andMonday morning.

“Two of the suspects, decked in skimasks and long sleeves shirts, priedopen the ATM’s outer cabinet using acrowbar but were unable to takeaway the money,” he said.

“They also failed to remove theATM from the bank using a car,driven by a third suspect.”

Torn down: enforcement officers destroying newly built workers’ quarters on illegally cleared land in Pos Terisu.

Fair warning: Officers putting up a signboard to warn against trespassing atthe area.