Logging Plan of Kedah Menteri Besar Is Just Wrong

I felt really disgusted when I read the words of the Menteri Besar ( State Minister ) of Kedah in today's New Straits Times . Mr. Azizan Abdul Razak himself said "I am now saying timber is also God's gift and I want to make money from it. What's wrong with that?"...Does that sound like a smart and educated person to you ? He is destroying the assets of Kedah . He plans to log RM16 billion worth of timber at the Ulu Muda forest reserve to make money as he has said himself .

The area is a water catchment area upstream from a village and is about twice the size of Singapore . 63,000 farmers are protesting this idea of his . He says that only a "few" trees will be cut down...but the fact is..Sahabat Alam Malaysia honorary secretary R. Meenakshi, estimates that about about one million trees would be chopped down . If this plan is approved by the Federal Government , the people there will eventually suffer from floods , drought , loss of crops , contaminated water or possibly even the lack of it . The farmers there will also lose their source of income . This plan of his will turn a part of Kedah into a big dessert..Isn't he paying attention to the global trend of going green ?

This forest has a tremendous value to the state and the people there . Mr. Azizan is just killing the goose that lays the golden eggs . He was elected to work for the improvement of the state...not to rape it for its source of life . He even has the audacity to tell his critics that they are they should not be too obsessed with caring for the environment "like parents who are extremely obsessed with their offspring" . Parents who are "obsessed" with their children are just over protective because they love their kids...this is the environment we're talking about .

Besides , 63,000 farmers are protesting...is he saying that they are obsessed with the environment ? He says he wants to make money..but why this way ? The government is paying him millions of Ringgit worth of all sorts of allowances to him as a minister . Remember that the government saves RM 2 billion just by cutting 10% of the entertainment allowance of all ministers . Even if his plan is approved by the Federal Government and he makes millions or maybe billions out of it..I doubt that he will be using any of that money for Kedah . Moreover , Ulu Muda is a forest reserve..he can't log a forest reserve !! . Anyway , I just hope that his plan will not be approved .

Partly cited from NST June 26 2008