Rosli Mansor Ahmad Razali
Pic : SUK Perak
IPOH: Perak Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad is confident that the installation of an automatic Water Head Early Warning System (EWS) at Eco-Forest Park in the state can guarantee a safe, comfortable and conducive forest ecotourism destination for tourists.
According to him, two automatic Water Head Early Warning Systems (EWS) have been installed in two Eco-Forest Parks in Perak.
The two Eco-Forests are Kledang Saiong Eco-Forest Park here, and Lata Iskandar Eco-Forest Park, Tapah.
“The installation of EWS in the two areas concerned was carried out with an allocation of RM800,000 by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change (NRECC) last year.
“With this early warning system, the sirens that sound will remind visitors that there is a danger warning involving the risk of water heads occurring soon.
“Therefore, to visitors who hear sirens and voice warnings from the EWS system, immediately leave the waterfall area because we do not know how fast the water will go down,” he said in a press conference after officiating the EWS Opening Ceremony and Greening Program Kick-off Malaysia Planting Campaign of 100 million trees 2023 at Taman Rimba Kledang Saiong, yesterday.
Also present were the State Secretary, Datuk Ahmad Suaidi Abdul Rahim, the Exco line, as well as the Director of the Perak Forestry Department, Datuk Mohamed Zin Yusop.
In addition, Saarani said the State Forestry Department will make a cost assessment before making an application to the NRECC to upgrade the EWS in five other Eco-Forest Parks from a manual to an automatic system.
There are 13 Eco-Forest Parks in the whole of Perak, but seven of them are identified as areas that are frequently visited by many people in addition to frequent water head phenomena.
The EWS at Kledang Saiong Eco-Forest Park and Lata Iskandar Eco-Forest Park work automatically and can detect water head phenomena within the first 5 to 10 minutes.
“Sensors” on area stations placed upstream and downstream of the river will detect changes in the water level of the river and measure the current rainfall rate.
He added that if the river’s water level is at an alert or dangerous level, a warning siren will sound followed by an automatic warning announcement.
“Visitors can also access this system by downloading the State Forestry Department’s EWS system application to assess the current situation in an Eco-Forest Park.
“It is understood that when the first warning is issued, the administrators of the State Forestry Department; the Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM); the Civil Defense Department and the Police will receive an initial notification in the form of a ‘Bot Telegram’, to know the current situation of the warning issued,” he said.
