ALOR STAR: Authorities are scrutinising the impact of July 4's destructive floods on Gunung Inas and its surrounding areas, in reviewing an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report submitted by the Musang King farm operator just two weeks prior to the disaster.
Environment and Water Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the review would take into account the impact of the debris floods and landslide incidents on the Gunung Inas landscape.
"The company had initially used an EIA report prepared for a TLC (timber latex clone) forest farming project approved for the site to carry out the Musang King farm project," he told the New Straits Times.
Tuan Ibrahim, who is also Pas deputy president, was met at the 68th Pas Muktamar held at the Kedah Pas Complex which concluded on Sunday.
He confirmed the company had submitted EIA studies on the Musang King farm about two weeks before the disaster struck despite being in operation since 2017.
"Yes, we will factor in the impacts of the July 4 floods disaster on Gunung Inas and its surrounding areas when we review the EIA report," he said.
On Aug 31, some 300 flood victims from 13 villages in Kupang gathered in Kampung Iboi to demand answers on how the Musang King farm on Gunung Inas was allowed to start without an EIA report.
The NST reported that Iboi Charitable Organisation chairman Dr Syuhaimi Zakaria had urged the government to take into account the destruction that occurred on Gunung Inas while reviewing the EIA studies submitted by the Musang King farm operator prior to the incident.
The villagers were also demanding for the state government to release a clear chronology on the development of the Musang King farm; from the initial approval for logging, to the development of 'ladang rakyat' in parcels A and B, which comprises seven compartments, until the Musang King farm was cultivated.
They demanded for details on all the processes, from the project approval, EIA report, monitoring, logging revenues earned by the state and the private entities involved to be made public.
In July, the Department of Environment director-general Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar confirmed that the department was probing the farm under the Environmental Quality Act 1974.
On Aug 30, the NST had reported that a source familiar with the investigations claimed that the department had found that the Musang King farm had flouted environmental laws.
The source said the operator might have flouted several EIA guidelines approved for a TLC forest farming project, which was initially slated for the site.
This includes building reservoirs on top of the Gunung Inas, which flouted a ban on development on slopes above 25 degrees and on land at elevations higher than the 1,000m above the mean sea level.
The farm also failed to plant vegetation to cover ground exposer from logging.
A source said the probes were carried out based on the detailed EIA report for the TLC project's sighted by the NST.