Cave Paradise at Merapoh Pahang under Threat

Merapoh is a small isolated town in Pahang. It used to be accessible by train only, however now the road linking Kuala Lipis and Kelantan, has opened up the area.

The proposed cement factory has raised the fear on its effect on limestone hills and habitat. The area is the caves paradise. It contains about 500 caves, and only about 85 caves have been explored, the balance is yet to be explored. These caves are about 300 million years old. One of the cave is the largest in south east asia if not the world.

The cement factory may cause the following effects on the environment.

- the river system - currently the stream is crystal clear. The rivers replete with various species of such as kelah and sebarau, these may vanish with the development.
- flora and fauna - contain various rare flora and fauna, some of which are rare species.

  

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Urban Agriculture Headed by UPM

The worlds urban demography is undergoing fast changes. It is forecasted that by the year 2020, 75% of the population of Africa and Asia will be urban dwellers. In Malaysia, the change had occurred, and currently, about 72% of the population are in the town or semi-town.

Such an imbalance in population distribution will cause a number of problems. One of the critical issues is the food security. UPM, the university focusing on agriculture, is promoting urban dwellers to grow their own food. Research has been made on various methods of urban agriculture such as vertical farming and hydroponics.

The other potential area is to collaborate with the local authority to utilize the public urban spaces to plan various kind of trees that bear fruit. It make sense to have specific portion of a public park reserved for the plantation of fruit bearing trees.  

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