Kenyir Lake a FTZ

The headline on Staronline (29 Sept 2010) quoted "Kenyir Lake, the largest man-made lake in South-east Asia, has been officially declared a Free Trade Zone (FTZ), Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said said".

OMG...a FTZ in an unpopulated wilderness? On a lake? Well, the first thing that came ringing in my head was the happy drinkers enjoying their boozes and getting drunk and perhaps drown too.

Suddenly the locals will have a new job - as smugglers. Many poor locals thriving to earn a living by becoming smugglers will perhaps be shot to death or put into prison. I am trying to recall many years ago when Penang was a FTZ. Being so near the mainland, smugglers had a good time smuggling dutyfree goods. Customs tightened their enforcement and many were shot in the smuggling attempts. Penang is an island and it was still not an easy task to enforce the rules. Imagine the situation in a lake like the largest lake in South East Asia, with so many many islands, so many many hiding coves and so many many trees to hide behind - do you think there won't be any smugglers? Then we have the increase in drinking and smoking habits because these items will be dammned cheap! Many bottles and cigerattes butts will be thrown into the lake. Boats and ferries will increase, bringing all the pollutions related with motor machines. I don't know about the effect on the fish but then these exploitations will surely damage the ecosystem slowly but surely.

In the name of making money from tourism, the greedy government couldn't care a hood about the environment, the locals and the culture. Development will be coming in leaps and bounds and as usual many cronies will be getting fat contracts. Business towkays will be happy with incoming tourists. Land prices will escalate. The poor will be forced to leave the kampungs. Everything will not be the same again. Bringing a sin city into a pristine culture of wilderness is surely not the right thing to do.

FTZ for Kenyir Lake?

This is the most craziest idea by the Barisan Najis government. Trying to promote orang "kafir" to goto Kenyir to booze, get drunk and perhaps drowned. I think a license for casino to attract tourists could be in the pipeline too. Image with the natural heritage attractions of "8,000 species of flowers, 2500 species of plants and trees, as well as more than 300 species of fresh water fish" and these stupid people want to draw in drunkards to natural sites. Greedy and perhaps want to curi duit from the project? Nothing seemed to be done on conservation of natural heritage but more to destroy it. They should promote the natural heritage. And if the Kenyir Lake is not drawing tourists then blame the operators. I myself, have been there, and I have no interest to go again for the simple reason that most operators are untrustworthy, boats that got delayed and activities got cancelled.

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Saturday May 22, 2010
RM100mil to make Kenyir a tourist draw
By R.S.N. MURALI
Star

KUALA TERENGGANU: Kenyir lake, the largest man-made lake in South East Asia, will undergo a RM100mil makeover.

It is also expected to be declared as a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) to make it a top tourist draw.

Kenyir, with 340 islands, is currently not a top tourist destination.

With the FTZ, the Terengganu government hopes it will be an impetus for the growth of eco-tourism in this area.

Mentri Besar Ahmad Said confirmed the state government had requested the Federal Government to declare Kenyir as an FTZ.

The proposed development for Kenyir included introducing a 40-seater jet boat to tour the lake; constructing a cable car line, setting up a theme park, creating an orchid garden, a fruit orchard as well as birds and butterfly parks.

The jet boat ride is expected to be crowd-puller with the highlight being the “Shotover” where the boat makes a 360-degree spin at full throttle.

Kenyir will also be turned into a shopping paradise, offering merchandise at affordable prices.

The lake makes a fascinating tourism spot as it is home to more than 8,000 species of flowers, 2500 species of plants and trees, as well as more than 300 species of fresh water fish.

The infrastructure and transportation system leading to Kenyir, specifically to the islands, will also be upgraded.

Ahmad said a jetty would be constructed fronting Kenyir's main gateway.

They are logging three times more land than is needed.

They are doing it again. Big money for their own pockets. Disregarding nature but for personal gains. Trengganu is oil-rich and they don't need the logging money. Trengganu has Kenyir Dam and the largest in Peninsular Malaysia with enough electricity to export to other states. Why built more dams? The answer - because of timber, stupid!

Shame to Malaysians. It takes a foreign group to call for petition. Lets help do our part.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/508876624

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Dear Prime Minister Dato' Sri Najib,

I am alarmed by the proceedings of the hydroelectric project in Terengganu, which involve logging three times more forest than is needed. This project will dam the Sungai Terengganu Mati and Sungai Tembat rivers, creating two reservoirs, which will flood 6130ha of forest reserves. However, the state government plans to log an additional 12,620ha surrounding this area.

This logging is completely unnecessary and as the valuable forest disappears, so will many species that inhabit the area, such as the endangered Sumatran rhinoceros and the Malayan tiger. There are also 94 species of plants and animals in the forest that the International Union for Conservation of Nature has deemed Red Listed as threatened by extinction.

Although a Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) on the project predicts that logging will have a high impact on the wildlife, logging has begun illegally, prior to the approval of the DEIA. I urge you to protect the wildlife and stop the unnecessary and unlawful logging of this high-value forest in the Terengganu region.

[Your comments here]

Thank you for helping to save these forests.


Sincerely,
[Your name here]

Logging 'threatens Terengganu's endangered rhinos'

Yesterday was Perak. Today is Trengganu.

A mature timber tree is worth a minimum of RM10K (US$3.3K). No wonder you find every state Government is going for the kill. It doesn't matter about wildlife, water resources or even livelihood of people living on the fringes of the forest. Chop the trees - for the $. Nevermind about extinction of rare wildlife, polluted water, animal-human conflicts....afterall, the people who approved the project could be rewarded by "commission". This is the fact - the greedy fact. A norm.

It has always been a ploy to build a highway. Then, the timber. I was right when I sensed that the road from Gua Musang to Kenyir Dam has to do with timber. And it was so true now. Development and infrastructes are all bullshit. Timbers & logging are the main objective.

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Malaysiakini
Nov 12, 08 6:34pm

Terengganu government is planning to log two forest reserves which is home to the critically endangered Sumatran rhinoceros and endangered Malayan tiger.

The proposed logging was revealed in a detailed environmental impact assessment (DEIA), which was recently made available for public viewing.

The DEIA, which is done by an independent agency, is the process of examining the environmental effects of the proposed plan to log of the forests.

Source: Malaysiakini

The study revealed that the state government has proposed to log 12,630 hectares of forest adjacent to the 6,130 hectares of forest reserve currently being cleared for the construction of two hydropower dams.

“The Tembat and Petuang Forest Reserves, which also act as a water catchment area for Tasik Kenyir, are currently being logged to build the Puah and Tembat dams,” said conservation group World Wildlife Fund in a press statement today.

It said that a survey conducted as part of the DEIA has revealed evidence of the presence of the elusive Sumatran rhinoceros within the Tembat Forest Reserve.

“Both the forest reserves are also habitat for other endangered wildlife, namely the Malayan tiger and Malayan tapir which are totally protected animals under the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972.”

The environmental impact assessment also exposed a shocking fact - that logging has already begun in the forest reserves despite that no approval has been given.

“Satellite images in the DEIA indicate that clear felling of the reservoir area and adjacent hills has begun since 2005-2006.

“According to the DEIA, the site of the catchment area has already experienced changes of between 25 and 30 percent and new logging tracks have already been constructed,” said WWF-Malaysia.

“There seems to be little regard for relevant laws and the DEIA process,” lamented WWF chief executive officer Dr Dionysius Sharma.

One-third of elephants to be forced out

According to the study, the logging will also affect the elephant population in the forests, where about one-third will be forced into nearby plantations, creating more human-elephant conflict.

“This will result in loss of revenue to plantation owners and property damages. In the long run, the government will incur higher cost for human-wildlife conflict management,” said Dionysius.

The DEIA also states that the high soil erosion and sedimentation as a result of the logging will affect fish biodiversity and spawning grounds.

“The Kelah fish population found in rivers there will undeniably decrease. Kelah has high conservation and commercial values,” said the WWF chief executive.

Dionysius also added that eco-tourism activities will be affected, translating to loss of revenue to the eco-tourism operators in the area.

The WWF has called on the state government to protect the two forest reserves by classifying them as wildlife sanctuaries under the National Forestry Act 1984 and gazetting them as water catchment forests.

“Logging or clear felling should not be allowed to take place at any time,” he said.