Two eco-forest parks in Besut suffer extensive damage due to floods

JERTIH: The eco-forest parks of Lata Tembakah in Hulu Besut and Lata Belatan in Jabi here are among the tourist sites that have suffered extensive damage due to floods recently.

Terengganu Forestry Department director Datuk Norhaidi Yunus said continuous heavy rain at the end of last month resulted in incidents of water surge and flood, which destroyed most facilities at these popular tourist spots and caused losses estimated at RM1 million.

"Based on our preliminary review, we found that there was a lot of damage, including to the structure of the suspension bridges and water pipe systems at both the eco-forest parks.

"Other infrastructures that were damaged included the foot trails and recreational facilities like tables and benches," he told Bernama here yesterday.

Norhaidi said 18 chalets and control posts in Lata Tembakah were also inundated and filled with between eight and 13 centimetres of mud, believed to be due to a collapsed slope in the upstream part of the river.

He added that the Terengganu Forestry Department will shut down the affected areas until repair works are completed before reopening them to visitors.

"The clean-up process of the areas affected by mud will be done immediately," he said, adding that all eco-forest parks in the state have been closed since Nov 1 as an early measure to deal with the Northeast Monsoon season.

-- BERNAMA

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