Upon news of the devastation of Lojing broke out, UMNO Kelantan immediately seizes the opportunity to grab a couple of brownie points by appointing itself as the guardian of the environment:
KOTA BAHARU, March 31 (Bernama) — Kelantan Umno has set up an action committee to check the ecological damage due to excessive logging at Lojing Highlands, which is said to be worse than anticipated and rather complex in nature.
Chairman of the State Umno Liaison Committee Datuk Seri Annuar Musa said Saturday non-governmental organisations were invited to join the committee which would compile data on the damage with information from various agencies. [Umno Forms Committee To Check Damage At Lojing Highlands. Bernama. March 31 2007]
PAS meanwhile declares that the party is “pushing for total conservation of the environment“, despite what is happening in Lojing:
KOTA BARU: Kelantan PAS plans to use a helicopter to conduct aerial inspection of hilly areas in other states to check for environmental damage.
Its secretary, Takiyuddin Hassan, said the party would hire a consultant who would be accompanied by knowledgeable government officials to inspect the development of hilly terrain in other states.
“We are pushing for total conservation of the environment. We are aiming for it in Kelantan, but can other states follow suit?” he said in an interview. [Look at damage in other states first, says Kelantan. The Star. April 1 2007]
Methinks:
5 replies on “[1156] Of Earthly Strip: UMNO-PAS the environmental warriors”
[…] I am refraining from taking side for I am fully aware that both sides are more interested in looking for brownie points instead of the environment. Yet, I cannot help but ridicule PAS on the way it handles the issue. […]
[…] Also, the current Menteri Besar himself, when he was in the opposition, opposed the helicopter harvesting when it was first proposed by the previous state administration back in 2003. Now, he holds a different position. Thus, forgive me if I am beginning to think he was objecting for the sake of objecting instead of seeing the issue on its merit. As it turns out, it does not matter if it is PAS or UMNO. All of them are the same! […]
[…] Holy frak, we are all cylons! […]
Dear Rajan,
I can understand that. What ticks me off however is when PAS (and UMNO for that matter) says “We are pushing for total conservation of the environment”.
I’ve been to Lojing before; stayed in an Orang Asli village. It is extremely close to Pahang (in fact, until the village kids started leaving on Saturday night to their boarding schools, I thought we were in Pahang) and the closest town is Cameron Highlands.
I don’t think there’s much Kota Bahru can do considering the lack of jurisdiction and the geographic isolation relative to the rest of Kelantan: Lojing is nearer to Tapah in Perak than Kota Bahru.