IPOH, Jan 22 — The Environment and Water Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man has clarified that the Tanjung Batu Waterfall (Teluk Sera) in Manjung’s Segari Melintang Forest Reserve is still in good condition.
He said the waterfall is unrelated to the area that has been affected by activities stemming from a quarry project.
“The Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) has conducted an investigation and found that the picture depicting damage to the Tanjung Batu Waterfall (Teluk Sera) is inaccurate and confusing.
“The waterfall is still in good condition,” he said in a statement.
Tuan Ibrahim said that initial investigations revealed that the damage to the Segari Melintang Forest Reserve occurred due to poor management of both wood and soil waste, which caused the overburden to flow into the river.
“On January 18, 19 and 20, the state Department of Environment’s (DoE) enforcement team together with the state Environment Exco Office and state Forestry Department visited the project site.
“They conducted an investigation and monitored the compliance of the quarry operator with the approval requirements for the environmental impact assessment (EIA).
“Drones were used to monitor the overall area that has been opened up, as well as the condition of the area in the complaint,” he said.
Based on the inspection, Tuan Ibrahim said the authorities discovered that the quarry operator had failed to comply with six aspects of the EIA’s approval requirements, which then led to the damage to the Segari Melintang Forest Reserve.
“This involved land work carried out without following the approved Land Disturbing-Pollution Prevention and Mitigation Measures (LD-P2M2) plan.
“The developer also failed to inform the DoE that work had started as required by the EIA approval conditions.
“The stop-work order under Section 34AA of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 was issued on Wednesday to the quarry operators,” he said.
He said the authorities also instructed the quarry operators to take immediate remedial action, such as erosion control, surface run-off control, sediment control, slope stabilisation and immediate maintenance.
Tuan Ibrahim also said an order notice under Sections 31 and 37 of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 was issued to the project operators on Tuesday requiring them to take remedial action, including monitoring the water quality and submitting a report to the state DoE within a stipulated period.
He also reminded the project operators, contractors and parties involved to comply with all the EIA’s approval requirements and focus on preventing any pollution that might arise from the development work.
