PAS hits back at BN's own deforestation record

PAS has hit back at the BN-led Pahang government over the local Orang Asli community's woes due to deforestation, after itself coming under siege over its own deforestation issues in Kelantan and Kedah.

In a statement on Friday, the Pahang PAS Housing, Consumerism and Environment bureau accused Umno and BN of hypocrisy over the ruling party’s own track record of forest management.

"Umno and BN have lost political capital that they would accuse Kedah and Kelantan, but the fact is, they have failed in managing the forest well in their own states.

"Not only has the environment suffered pollution due to uncontrolled logging and weaknesses in managing plantations, but the Orang Asli's livelihood have also been affected," it said.

The deforestation in the Kemasul, Tekai and Lepar Forest Reserves, Cameron Highlands and Tasik Chini (top photo) as well as the Kelau dam project in Pahang are but a few examples, said the PAS bureau.

It added that BN, which controls the majority of the states was also responsible for Malaysia's third from bottom ranking out of 132 countries in the 2012 Environmental Performance Index in the area of forest management.

Last month, Malaysiakini reported that the livelihood of over 100 Orang Asli villages in Gua Musang, Kelantan was being threatened by widespread logging.

The PAS-led state government has refused to recognise Orang Asli’s claim to the areas as their traditional lands, maintaining that the logged regions belong to the government unless they are gazetted as Orang Asli settlements.

The pro-government mainstream media has also been frontpaging massive forest clearing by PAS in both its states taking the Islamic party to task for failing to protect the environment.