In a Facebook post today, he said that upon his visit to flood-affected areas in Karak and Bentong, Pahang, it was clear to see that the rivers in the area could not cope with the sudden increase of water levels.

“The frightening aspect of the overflow of water is the large amount of debris from trees, shrubs and wood waste uprooted from the logging area,” he said.

“The situation at the Sri Telemong bridge clearly shows that logging for many years and other forms of deforestation are the main causes of floods.”

He added that the plants in the surrounding forests were unable to absorb water which then led to the collapse of the river banks and its tributaries.

Ramasamy said JPNP could no longer deny illegal logging is the cause of the floods.

“According to JPNP inspections at Jalan Bentong-Karak and Sri Telemong bridge, wood waste was found on the road and bridge. But I saw for myself that at Sri Telemong Bridge, it wasn’t just wood waste or debris but also uprooted trees and waste from abandoned logging activities.”

He urged the Pahang state government to urgently tackle the issue and direct its forestry department to investigate companies involved in large-scale logging enterprises.