Kuala Selangor, 8^th August 2012 – A fire has been raging in the North Selangor Peatswamp Forest for the past week, fanned by a strong wind and dry conditions. The hot weather has not helped, neither has the sparse rain that fell intermittently. The fire was believed to have started in Compartment 101 of the forest reserve, spreading northeast to compartments 99 and 100.

As of Sunday, 5^th August, 15.5 hectares have been affected, including 5.5 hectares of compartments 99 and 100 where the GEC rehabilitation plot is located. Fortunately, only a small area of the planted site was affected.  The Fire & Rescue Department, the Forestry Department, GEC staff, orang asli villagers and Sahabat Hutan Gambut members have all put in their best effort to put out the fire.

On Monday, 6^th August, Dato’ Abd Rahman b Abd Rahim, the Director General of FDPM visited the project site to assess the damage. The District Officer also came to visit. A working committee meeting will be held soon to discuss the matter and further action.