Chief Conservator of Forest Sam Mannan said in a statement today that the allegations, which appeared on social media, were made by “ignorant” individuals.
“These allegations are not true and simply wild accusations,” he said.
Sam explained that the source of Sungai Pampang was in the Crocker Range Park, which is largely pristine forests and have never been logged.
Nevertheless, he said, there were encroachments and shifting cultivation of rubber and rice.
The river also flows through various settlements and eventually passes through Keningau town.
“During the dry season, the river is merely a creek with weak flows of water. Nevertheless, convenient access to the riverine and flat terrain had attracted squatters to build illegal houses on its banks and even on the river itself.
“After the Greg tropical storm of 1996, notices were given to squatters to vacate the banks and dismantle their settlements. The area is a riparian reserve and unsuitable for human occupation,” he explained.
Unfortunately, Sam said, nothing happened and the squatter settlements continued to expand.
He pointed out that the locating of houses on the banks was an invitation for disaster as floods are a natural phenomenon.
“The Crocker Range is the most important and largest source of fresh water for the west coast and interior.
“But with incessant rain, its water holding capacity would have been exceeded and excess water flowed into river channels, including Sungai Pampang.
“This is the large source of water that caused the recent flooding. It is a repeat of 1996 (during the tropical storm which killed more than 100 people in Keningau).
“The excess flow from surface run-off is a natural phenomenon. Building houses on or beside a river is a call for death and disaster,” he said.
12 houses swept away in Keningau floods, but no deaths reported