The said development will take place within the biggest water catchment area in the Kinta District which supplies 18% of Perak's drinking water. With the population and economic growth in the Kinta region, the area will need more regular and undisturbed clean water supply. MNS hopes that the Perak Government will learn from the Klang Valley's water shortage experience and plan its future water resources carefully. Catchment areas are important for the state's water resour-ces and they are also the repositories of our biological resources. Any disturbances on the catch-ment area will affect the hydrological balances with a possible decrease in water supply, an increase in floodings downstream as a result of siltation, not to mention the fragmentation of habitats and loss of bio-diversity. With fragmentation of habitats, the health of the forests may deteriorate.

As stated in the Kinta District Structural Plan, the area is only suitable for low density agriculture practices such as greenhouses, (not slope terrace farming) and low impact/density tourism industry such as cottages (and not gigantic golf courses and theme parks). This is because due to its steepness, the carrying capacity of a highland area will be much lower than a lowland area. The State should thus learn from the mistakes of development in the Cameron Highlands where unplanned land-use conversions created problems of sedimentation thus led to increased floodings and rise in temperatures.

Dato Dr Salleh Mohd. Nor
President
(7 October, 1998 - Kuala Lumpur)
Letter to the Editor