Kelantan peatlands under threat from open burning, land clearing; Fire Dept warns of flash flood risk

“KOTA BHARU, May 17 — Peatlands in Kelantan, which serve as natural water catchment areas, are increasingly threatened by open burning and land clearing for agricultural activities, raising concerns over a higher risk of flash floods in several parts of the state. State Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) director Farhan Sufyan Borhan said peatlands play a crucial role in storing water naturally due to their ability to absorb large volumes of water during heavy rainfall. He described peatlands as a giant sponge that helps regulate water levels and reduce overflow into drainage systems and rivers. “If peatlands are cleared for agriculture or affected by open burning, their capacity to absorb water will decline, causing water to flow directly into drainage systems and rivers. “That is why many flood incidents in Bachok are flash floods,” he told Bernama recently. Farhan Sufyan said Kelantan has about 7,692 hectares of peatland, significantly smaller than Terengganu, which has more than 60,000 hectares. He said most peatland areas in Kelantan are located in Bachok, Pasir Puteh and Pasir Mas, which are also identified as high-risk areas for open burning during the dry season. He added that peatland fires are particularly difficult to extinguish because they spread beneath the ground surface and require lengthy firefighting operations. “We once took up to 10 days to extinguish a peatland fire,” he said. According to him, open burning in peatland areas is mainly believed to be carried out for land clearing and agricultural purposes. He said the practice not only harms the environment but can also cause significant losses to farmers when fires spread to crops such as oil palm and pineapples. “Oil palm trees take years to produce yields, while pineapples also require a long period before they can be harvested. When fires occur, the losses can be substantial,” he said. Meanwhile, he said smoke from peatland fires is more severe and could affect air quality, although monitoring remains challenging as Kelantan only has two Air Pollutant Index (API) monitoring stations, located in Kota Bharu and Tanah Merah. He expressed hope that more API monitoring stations would be placed in fire hotspot areas to strengthen air quality monitoring efforts. Farhan Sufyan also reminded the public not to carry out open burning during the dry season, warning that such actions could have serious consequences for the environment and public safety. — Bernama

Summary generated from the RSS feed of Malay Mail Education. All article rights belong to the original publisher. Click through to read the full piece on www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia.