Destruction of the Cameron Highlands

I was deeply sadden to hear about the Cameron Highlands mud floods which occurred on the 5th and 6th of November 2014. This was the second time a mud flood of this magnitude ravaged the Bertam Valley which lies in the highlands. A year earlier a similar mud flood struck and 3 casualties were reported. This time around, it was reported that there were 6 casualties from this disaster but unofficial reports suggested that the toll was higher. The video below shows the mud flood ravaging through Kampung Baru Ringlet which is a town located in the Bertam Valley:

 The Cameron Highlands has always been a very special place for me as this is the very place I started my high altitude adventures. It is very sad indeed to see the destruction of this pristine highlands as I have always known it for its lush greenery and gentle rolling hills surrounded by the majestic blue mountains in the distance.

This is the view of the picturesque highlands that I've always known. 

Throughout the years, agri farms have dominated the landscape of the Cameron Highlands. Even the mountain air is no longer cool these days and the number of tourists have been dropping consistently.

In the past few years since I last hiked in the highlands, massive vegetable farms have been  rapidly sprucing up like mushrooms after the rain. The organic food industry has become a booming industry as most Malaysians have become more health concious throughout the years. Generally, as people in Malaysia get wealthier, they become more willing to spend on organic food which supposedly contains zero pesticide hence good for health. A lot of entrepreneurs saw the potential of this organic food industry and quickly capitalized on the growing demand. They rushed up the Cameron Highlands to acquire fertile virgin jungle land to raise vegetable farms, some through illegal means. Since the organic farming business was so good, it raked in huge profits for the farmers and the authorities that govern the land. Man being man are always cursed with the insatiable desire for more thus opening the floodgates to a whopping 6000 acres of land being cleared legally and illegally in the highlands.  

Land clearing on the slopes of Brinchang in the Cameron Highlands not too far away from a holiday resort. 

Years of rampant land clearing have led to the accumulation of a lot of silt in the Sultan Abu Bakar Dam which is part of the Ringlet water reservoir catchment. When the land is cleared, the loose earth when exposed to torrential rain, flows into streams and eventually into catchment reservoirs and deposits as silt. These silt used to just sit at the base of the Ringlet water reservoir but after years of deposition, the volume of silt have built up to a point it almost filled the entire reservoir with silt. Even the waters of the catchment reservoir became an obvious muddy brown which is a clear indicator of the dam silting up to the brim. 

  The murky brownish waters of the Ringlet reservoir is a sign of heavy siltation.

Towards the year end, in the months of November-December, Peninsular Malaysia is hit by a meteorological phenomena known as the Northeast monsoon which brings with it heavy downpour. The Cameron Highlands being the mountainous back bone of the peninsular receives the full brunt of torrential rains. This is precisely when disaster struck. On the 5th of November 2014, the rain poured heavily and continuously for more than 5 hours hence triggering the disaster. As the Sultan Abu Bakar dam can only withstand not more than 80% of its catchment capacity and the siltation deposits had probably taken up close to 50% of its capacity, the dam could not cope with the additional hydrostatic loads on its walls and had no choice but to open the floodgates. The result was the devastating mud flood which ravaged through the mountain town of Ringlet and the rest of the Bertam Valley.

Cartoon depicting how land clearing leads to siltation of the reservoir resulting in reduced water catchment capacity of the dam.

The map shows the extent of the area ravaged by the mud floods.

Fast flowing floodwaters gave villagers no time to escape to safer areas with their belongings.

The trail of destruction left behind by the mud floods in the Ringlet town in Cameron Highlands.

The inhabitants of Kampung Baru Ringlet suffered massive loss of property due to damages caused by the mud flood.

SJK C Bertam Valley was not spared from the mud floods.

The damage to school property was so extensive that it forced the cancellation of the SPM examinations for Form Five students in Cameron Highlands.

The SPM examinations which were supposed to be held at the school was forced to be cancelled in the wake of the destruction and students were relocated to other parts of the region to take the exams.

The Sultan of Pahang inspecting the destruction in the Cameron Highlands in Nov 2014.

Following the destruction due to the mud floods in Cameron Highlands, there was the usual finger pointing when figuring out who the main culprit was. There were suggestions by certain quarters that it was the doings of the illegal workers from Bangladesh, Myanmar & Indonesia that were responsible in the land clearing. However, if you think about it these illegal workers merely follow orders and wont simply toil to clear land if not instructed to do so with no incentives. Once again the innocent villagers were being hoodwinked by those in power to find the scapegoat. The Malaysian media was flooded with news of the destruction of the highlands and politicians were promising millions of dollars for the clearing up of the Cameron Highlands but that doesn't solve the long standing issue of environmental destruction as the greed of man and their disrespect towards mother nature will cause her to bite back with a promise of devastation.

It is my only hope that mother nature is resilient and will recover from any destruction if given the chance to but man must learn to place deep respect for mother nature and the mountains instead of being blinded by the temptation of material gains otherwise we are bound to witness another round of mud floods in the Cameron Highlands which will only get worse next time around.