Popular butterfly habitat destroyed

This is a very sad story. The salt lick of the Rajah Brooke has been known for years. I had the opportunities to see them in many of my visits. The pipeline itself was also an interesting life support for many fauna beside the heritage values. The pipeline had small leaks with spraying water. And these spraying water actually sustain interesting insect and amphibian populations. On our night walks along the pipeline, we saw countless exotic insects and frogs, not easily seen anywhere else. Such were the charm of Gopeng, beside the Rafflesia and Rajah Brooke. Now, minus the pipeline, gone are the exotic insects and Rajah Brooke included. The lifelihood of the orang asli will be affected. Such continuing greed can only destroy our natural & cultural heritage forever. Who cares! Barisan Najis hoi!

Admin

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Wednesday January 6, 2010
The Star

IPOH: Workers who removed the historical Gopeng pipeline for scrap metal have destroyed the largest site for Rajah Brooke butterflies in Ulu Geroh, a major tourist attraction.

All that remains of the salt lick, where the butterflies used to congregate in the thousands to sip water rich in minerals, is now just muddy ground.

Friends of Ecotourism and Na-ture Conservation (Semai) chairman Ahha Bah Udal claimed that workers removing the pipeline on Dec 24 “literally bulldozed” their way through the salt lick next to the Ulu Geroh access road.

“The ground is flattened and there is mud everywhere.

“Until now, the workers have not bothered to take away the pipes, which they left by the side of the road,” said Ahha.

Semai, a collective effort by the orang asli village to promote ecotourism and their lifestyle, has 19 villagers acting as guides to take about 1,500 to 2,000 tourists annually into the jungles to view the Rajah Brooke butterflies and Rafflesia flower as well as to trek up Cameron Highlands.

Ahha said due to the destruction of the site, which had been gazetted by the state Wildlife and National Parks Department as a protected area, it was no longer possible to see the butterflies.

“The butterflies have flown away. They can’t be seen on the ground anymore,” he said.

Ahha said the villagers were now considering legal action against the contractor responsible.


“Although the contractor has permission to remove the pipeline, they should have informed that they were going to carry out the removal works and we could have advised them on which areas to avoid.

“Now, everything is destroyed and it is impossible to create another site. You cannot recreate nature,” Ahha said.

The century-old Gopeng pipeline, which was once used to transport water from the hills to tin mines below, is being removed and sold as scrap metal.

It was left behind after mining operations in Gopeng ceased in 1985.

Perak offers oil palm firm another site

Thumb Up for the present Perak State Government for being environment friendly. Undoing what the previous State Government did.

Thank you.

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Saturday July 19, 2008
Staronline

THE Perak Government is offering an alternative site to Gopeng Bhd to start its oil palm plantation in order to protect the biodiversity of the Ulu Geroh Forest Re-serve.

State Health, Environment and Human Resources Committee chairman A. Sivanesan said the matter was discussed at the state exco meeting on Wednesday.

“We will meet the company to brief the directors,” he said after meeting members of the Malaysia Nature Society (MNS) on Thursday.

On where the alternative site would be, Sivanesan said the state had to cross the first hurdle of getting the company to agree on the land swap, adding that he was seeking the company’s cooperation to suspend work.

The matter was highlighted after some 700 orang asli from the affected settlements of Ulu Kampar, Ulu Geroh, Kampung Serkal and Kampung Empang Besar complained about land clearing work by Gopeng Bhd’s contractor to build a road leading to the plantation.

Last year, Gopeng Bhd was given a six-month concession to clear the area to build the road.

The previous Barisan Nasional state government had alienated 136.72ha of land to the company to cultivate oil palm while 150ha of land had been gazetted as orang asli settlement, Sivanesan said.

He pointed out that the offer of an alternative site to the company was not because the state government was bowing to the demands of the orang asli.

“We are looking at the larger picture, its effects on the nature and environment.

“We need to strike a balance between nature and investments. I will ensure that nature is not stripped. It has to be preserved.

“The state does not even mind looking at compensating Gopeng Bhd for work done by giving a slightly bigger piece of land it now has,” he said.

MNS council member Tan Chin Tong said the society was concerned about the biodiversity at the Sungai Geroh valley which is a catchment area.

Apart from the orang asli, he said, there were three resorts and seven companies operating white water rafting in the forest reserve.

Tan also presented a proposal to gazette Kinta Nature Park, covering 950ha, into a state park.

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Staronline

Friday August 1, 2008
Orang asli score victory in Gopeng

GOPENG: The orang asli of five settlements here scored a victory after Gopeng Bhd accepted the Perak Government’s offer of an alternative site to start its oil palm plantation.

State Health, Environment and Human Resources Committee chairman A. Sivanesan said the company agreed that the 136.72ha land in question be returned to the state in exchange for a similar site.

In June, it was reported that Gopeng Bhd’s land-clearing work for a road leading to the site had angered the orang asli from the affected settlements of Ulu Kampar, Ulu Geroh, Kampung Serkal, Ulu Geruntum and Kampung Empang Besar.

“The state has already instructed the Forestry and respective departments to look for an alternative site,” Sivanesan told a press conference here yesterday.

“We consider the matter closed and there won’t be any intrusion or infringement on the rights of the orang asli,” he said.

The orang asli’s spokesman, Bah Azmi Ngah Porgi, said he was moved by the latest turn of events after months of fighting to preserve their land.

“I don’t know what to say. I want to thank the Mentri Besar, Teja assemblyman Chang Lih Kang and everyone else for understanding our plight,” he said.

Perak halts logging after protests

Friday June 20, 2008
Staronline
By CLARA CHOOI

GOPENG: The Perak government has issued an immediate stop-work order to all parties involved in logging near orang asli settlements here.

But that may not be enough to end the longstanding problems faced by some 2,000 villagers.

Yesterday, however, the villagers had an opportunity to vent their frustrations during a site visit by Health, Environment and Human Resources Committee chairman A. Sivanesan, Teja assemblyman Chang Lih Kang, government representatives, and activists.

Also present were officials from Gopeng Bhd, which has come under fire for removing a 14.5km long pipeline, which had run from the Ulu Geroh water catchment area to Gopeng town since November.

The villagers from Kampung Ulu Kampar, Kampung Ulu Geroh and Kampung Serkal alleged they had been victimised and threatened to resort to “violent action” if the “intrusion on their lands” continued.

“We do not want this anymore. No more logging. No more destruction of our ancestral grounds, our crops, our water source, our rivers, our businesses and our lives,” said nature guide Ahha Bah Udal.

The villagers claimed that the recent approval for a 136.72ha logging concession in Kg Empang Besar to a company would further destroy their lands.

“When Gopeng Bhd removed their pipeline, they destroyed our roads and our rivers with the sludge from their construction.

“Now they want to log this area. We will not accept this,” said Ulu Geroh village development and security committee chairman Bah Azmi Ng Porgi, who spoke on behalf of the villagers.

A visit to several areas yesterday showed hill slopes on the verge of slipping, clogged and murky rivers and a crumbling bridge.

Upon seeing the damage, Sivanesan issued an immediate stop work order pending a meeting to study the matter and its legal implications.

“This order is temporary and will be in force for two weeks.

“I need to study the approval given by the Forestry Department and any of the stipulated guidelines the contractor may or may not have breached.

“If the state finds any form of violation, we reserve the right to withdraw the logging approval and order for compensation for the damage caused,” he said.