PEKAN: The Pahang Forestry Department has been ordered to submit a comprehensive report on the presence of mass wood debris in Sungai Telemong near Karak, which had allegedly triggered the major floods on Dec 18.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said the department has been instructed to go down to the ground to conduct checks on claims if there were unregulated logging activities upstream and how the wood debris ended up being washed into Sungai Telemong.
"There have been a lot of allegations (on illegal logging and land clearing) and the Forest Department has started investigations to verify it. I have told them to submit a detailed report on the alleged issue.
"All parties have to wait for the findings from the report and must not jump to a conclusion or make assumptions. I have not set a dateline for the report(to submit) but let the department do their job," he told reporters after visiting flood victims at the temporary evacuation centres (PPS) at SMK Ubai near here.
Wan Rosdy was replying to allegations that wood debris had blocked the flow of Sungai Telemong near Karak and resulted in the massive floods in the vicinity on Dec 18.
The debris had caused the river to become narrow and clogged the water flow resulting in the nearby settlements being completely submerged in water.
Meanwhile, Wan Rosdy said due to the uncertain weather conditions, he was not going to put pressure on the Forestry team to speed up their probe.
"They need to enter the site for investigations and it is not easy as at the moment the weather is unpredictable. Their safety cannot be compromised....they will be given enough time but not too long to submit the report," he said.
Yesterday, Sabai assemblyman D. Kamache questioned the presence of the wood debris in the river saying floods resulting from heavy rain will only trigger the river water to overflow its banks but this time it brought along logs and wood debris.
She said the authorities need to investigate and explain the truth to the people on how the logs or wood debris ended up there.
There have been various allegations on social media including linking the mess in Sungai Telemong with unregulated land clearing, logging or durian farming activities.
A water column incident along the river at Kampung Seri Telemong here on Dec 18 saw 10 people rescued alive while five dead and another still missing