Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan has gotten himself in hot water after claiming that the natural disasters in Kedah were not caused by illegal logging, but an ‘act of God’.

In Parliament yesterday (Sept 20), the Energy and Natural Resources Minister was asked a sequence of questions by Jerai MP, Sabri Azit.

The PAS member wanted to know what steps were being taken by the ministry to make forests more sustainable along the roads leading to the peak of Gunung Jerai.

In the reply to a subsequent question, Takiyuddin replied, “It was an act of God that caused the flooding.”

In an instant opposition MP, Anwar Ibrahim stated, “We cannot blame it on God (if it was caused) by the greediness of people. How do you know it is an act of God when it is humans who are greedy and destroy (nature) by logging?”

Takiyuddin defended himself by claiming that there were no new logging licences had been issued there in the last three years.

Malaysians on social media were sceptical about his excuse.

Gordan Chew on Twitter wrote that in times of crisis, we can pray and accept our fate. But a country still needs to be governed by laws and means to prevent such incidents from ever happening again.

He added, “If PAS’ ways are only to rely on quoting disasters as an act of God, then quit working for the government.”

Siew Eng, a resident in Yan, also commented on the situation. He alleged that Takiyuddin was wrong as he had witnessed forest logging near the Gunung Jerai area.

“No need to blame it on an act of God. People want to know what your action is to prevent this in the future. Saying it is act of God is like not owning my to the fault,” he wrote.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE