Maximizing Nature's Bounty
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31 Oct 2022

Sg. Lui: Penyelenggaraan yang mengundang bencana

Satu isu yang sering dibincangkan oleh penduduk di Sg. Lui, Hulu Langat ialah penyelenggaraan Sg. Lui yang kurang memuaskan.  Di musim peralihan angin monsun tahun ini di antara bulan Oktober hingga Disember, dengan hujan lebat dan ribut petir diramalkan dari November 1 hingg November 23 hampir tiap-tiap hari, kami sedang bersiap-sedia untuk bencana banjir sekali lagi.  Sg. Lui merupakan satu sungai yang menerima aliran air dari 5 anak sungai yang bermula di kawasan bukit berdekatan.  Apabila hujan turun tidak berhenti selama beberapa jam di kawasan bukit ini, paras air di Sg. Lui boleh naik dengan mendadak sehingg melebihi 1 meter.

Pemandangan dari jambatan ke Kg. Orang Asli Paya Lebar

Saya memantau dari kawasan Kampun Paya Lebar, Hulu Langat kerana sg. Lui membahagikan tanah saya.  Dari banjir bulan Disember 2021, lebih sungai di tanah saya telah dihakis lebih dari 3 meter lebar yang secara tidak langsung melebarkan sungai ini.  Dari tanah saya hingga ke Batu 20, Kampung Sg. Lui, sungai ini mengecil. Paras tebing juga menurun sepanjang aliran Sg. Lui.

Di tebing sungai di sini, jelas hanya sebelah tebing sahaja yang dikukuhkan dengan guni pasir.  Di sebelah kana, jelas akibat paras air yang naik baru-baru ini yang meninggalkan tanah, pasir dan batu selepas paras air surut.  Paras air yang naik dan surut sering berlaku kebelakangan ini menyebabkan dasar sungai naik.  Ini akan menyebabkan perbezaan paras dasar meningkat di antara hulu dan hilir dan jurang paras air dengan paras tebing mengurang.  Apabila hujan turun dengan berterusan di kawasan bukit di hulu, paras air akan meningkat dengan mendadak sehingga lebih dari 1 m.

Dari permulaan tahun 2022, terdapat kerja-kerja membersih dan menyelenggara tebing Sg. Lui tetapi kerja-kerja ini tidak dilaksanakan dengan rapi menyebabkan kerja-kerja membaiki tebing dan mendalamkan sungai dijalankan berulang-kali.  Kawasan ini merupakan kawasan punca air dan “tadahan hujan”.  Apabila kerja-kerja dilaksanakan seperti “tikus gerit”, ia tidak akan membawa apa-apa faedah dan merupakan pembaziran wang rakyat.  Jika banjir di kawasan saya, bermakna akan berlaku banjir yang agak teruk hingga ke kawasan Sg. Serai, Batu 10, Hulu Langat.  Jika paras air meningkat hingga sekaki di paras bawah jambatan, ini bermakna kawasan di sepanjang Batu 23 hingga Batu 20 akan mengalami banjir kerana paras di kawasan ini adalah lebih rendah dari di sini.

 

Akibat banjir 2021, tebin runtuh dan paras sungai naik hasil dari mendapan pasir dan tanah.

 

Sungai Lui di dalam sepuluh tahun ini sudah berubah aliran.  Hasil dari banjir 2021, sungai ini sudah semakin lurus. Aliran dahulu yang berliku sudah jadi kurang berliku. Tebing sungai juga terhakis dan paras air sungai meningkat hasil dari mendapan pasir dan tanah.  Sudah berkali-kali JPS menghantar kontraktor untuk mendalamkan sungai dan mendamparkan pasir dan tanah yang dikorek ke tebing.

Malangnya, tiada guni pasir atau jaringan batu diletakkan di tebing sungai.  Akibatnya, dua-tiga bulan kemudian, akan muncul kontraktor untuk mengorek tanah dan pasir dari sungai dan mendamparkannya ke tebing sekali lagi. Gambar ini memaparkan bagaiman sungai ini diluruskan sebab selekoh sebelum banjir 2021 sudah tiada dan sungai semakin lebar hasil dari hakisan.  Jelas juga sungai ini semakin cetek akibat dari mendapan tanah dan pasir hasil dari hakisan tanah di hulu.

Saya tertanya juga, tiadakah pakar yang di JPS atau pegawai yang memantau keadaan Sg. Lui.  Tidakkah mereka sedar bahawa jika bencana banjir melanda di kawasan ini, impaknya lebih teruk sepanjang aliran Sg. Lui sehingga Batu 9 Cheras?

 

 

 

 

 

Tebing yang tiada perlindungan yand mengalami hakisan berterusan.

Kekuatan arus air dari banjir 2021 juga menyebabkan tebing yang tinggi dihakis dan tanah runtuh sehingga satu rumah yang terdapat ditebing ini telah jatuh hancur dan beberapa rumah mengalami kerosakan besar.

Jika arus air Sg. Lui seperti banjir 2021 berulang di bulan November ini, kemungkinan besar selekoh ini akan diluruskan lagi kerana tebing sungai ini tiada perlindungan dari hakisan.  Pokok-pokok akan tumbang dan dihanyutkan yang akan meninggikan lagi tahap kerosakan di sepanjang aliran sungai ini.  Di bahagian ini, paras tanah sungai sudah turun lebih kuran 1 m dari paras di jambatan ke Kampung Orang Asli Paya Lebar.

Apa yang menyedihkan ialah terdapat rumah-rumah baru yang dibina oleh rakyat yang berangan untuk hidup di kawasan kampung di usia emas.  Wang simpanan mereka yang digunakan untuk pembinaan rugi begitu saja dan kini berhadapan dengan masalah membai-pulih rumah atau membinanya baru.

Hal ini telah diutarakan kepada pihak-pihak yang berkuasa tetapi 10 bulan selepas kejadian, masih tiada tindakan.  Hakisan ini berterusan sebab kawasan ini sering dilanda hujan lebat terutama sejak pertengahan bulan Oktober 2022.

Sungai Lui bercantum dengan Sungai Langat di Batu 18, Hulu Langat. Terdapat beberapa sungai lagi yang mengalir ke dalam Sungai Langat.  Melihat keadaan semasa dan ramalan cuaca di bulan November ini, saya menulis artikel ini bagi mengutarakan masalah di Sg. Lui dan betapa pentingnya pihak berkuasa perlu melaksanakan kerja-kerja yang perlu secepat mungkin bagi mengelakkan bencana banjir seperti di bulan Disember 2021.  Di waktu yang sama, saya harap penduduk di kawasan Batu 23 Sg. Lui hingga Batu 9 Cheras bersiap-sedia dan peka dengan keadaan semasa di hulu sungai yang akan membawa impak terhadap mereka.

30 Oct 2022

Making it last: Dehydrated Torch Ginger (Bunga Kantan)

The Torch Ginger Flower (Bunga Kantan) ia a beautiful flower that is aromatic and used in various Malaysian cuisine with the most well-known being Assam Laksa.  There are several different colors for these flowers including various shades of pink, white and red.  At the farm, we have the white and pink flowers.  The most commonly found are the pink flowers.  As with many flowers, these flowers will last about one week, less if it is fully bloomed.  The flavor and aromatics from the flowers gets more intense from the bud stage, the stage that we most commonly find at the market, to full bloom.

Under good growing conditions, the torch ginger plant produces flowers year-round.  It does especially well in areas where there is lots of rainfall.  It is a tropical flowering plant that thrives in hot, humid weather and requires substantial room as it is a rhizome-plant that will spread and the leaf stalk can grow to over 3 meters tall.

 

Before dehydration

Due to the short “shelf-life” and the number of fresh flowers that went to waste because I couldn’t consume or use it in time, I decided to experiment dehydrating the flower as a means to enable it to have a longer “shelf-life” and reduce wastage.  At the same time, this also meant that I can have it readily available at home whenever I wanted to use them in cooking.  By dehydrating it, it also makes it easier to store as it can be stored in a cool, dry place.  It is important to use freshly harvested flowers to produce quality dehydrated flowers.  The dehydrated flowers can be used in cooking similar to the fresh bunga kantan for soupy dishes or in a broth. I have also used it during the cooking process of plain, white rice.  It imparts an aroma to the rice which makes it very inviting.  Bearing in mind that dehyrated torch ginger flowers are about 10% in quantity of the fresh flowers, a little goes a long way.

I have experimented various ways of storing it as we do live in a humid, tropical country.  It is best stored in an air-tight container which can be placed in a cool, dry area or in the refrigerator.  To store it even longer, it can be placed in a freezer bag and stored in the freezer.  I have experimented storing it in the freezer for 18 months.  It retains its pink color for the duration.

 

 

After dehydration

 

During the dehydration process, the flowers will reduce to about 10% of its original size.  I use a dehydrator for many reasons namely:

  1.  it ensures even drying
  2.  the drying time is consistent – no dependence on whether it is a sunny day or not
  3.  prevents exposure to contaminants
  4.  minimizes loss of flavor
  5.  almost negligible impact of oxidization.

I do not dry it out in the open, under the sun as it is then exposed to possible contaminants as well as impact of oxidization is higher.  This can especially be seen in the change in color of the flowers – it will turn beige or brown.  Drying it in the sun also makes the drying time uncertain as it will be dependent on the weather and temperature of the day.  It is also prone to uneven drying.

 

Packed dehyrated torch ginger flowers

To make it easier to transport and store, I have packed them in resealable packs.  Being lightweight, it is easy to transport.  The resealable pack makes it easier to store as once the pack is open, it can just be resealed to close it.  Each pack contains 9-12 flowers, depending of the size of the fresh flowers.  The flowers we use are on average more than 3 times the size of the fresh torch ginger buds found in markets and supermarkets.

Through the years that I have been producing it, I am happy that my dehydrated torch ginger has reached many countries such as England, Spain, France, Hong Kong, Czech Republic and United States.  Next week, one pack will make the trip to Germany.

As we are a small farm that also grows other trees and plants, I do not produce large quantities of dehydrated torch ginger flowers so we do not do bulk selling but direct to the consumer.

To contact us, please WhatsApp to +60172821219.

 

30 Aug 2022

Recovering from the flood od 2021/2022

Part of the destruction to the farm

Since January, 2022, we have been working on recovering from the big flood of December, 2021.  The flood water rose to 1.5 meters at the farm.  Azis, stalwart and brave as ever, spent the night of December 18 on the rooftop of the farmhouse.  Through the ensuing days, I wasn’t able to get supplies to him and it took about 5 days before any supplies could reach to him.  Our dogs and cats survived but some of our chicken didn’t.

Kitchen and dining areas once the flood waters receeded.

There was extensive damage to the farm including the destruction of our boundary walls, destruction of our fish ponds, ground damage, lost trees as well as damage to the structures.  It was a huge cleanup process and it took us a couple of months to complete it.  The main focus then apart from cleanup was the rebuilding of the boundary walls.  It took us 2 months to rebuild the walls surrounding the farm.  This time we reinforced it with steel bars as well as dug deeper to lay the cement and steel base.  The focus is on getting it rebuilt.  Later in the year, we will probably to the beautifying of the wall but in the meantime, it serves the function of keeping the 4-legged variety from coming it and a deterrent for the 2-legged variety.

The rebuilt boundary wall, yet to be finished.

We also lost our equipment, tools as well as personal property.  The fridge, food dehydrator, tv, stereo, furniture as well as other items all went with the flood waters.  It took us almost one month before we could restore clean water to the farm as we needed to lay new polypipe from the source to the farm.  As the roads were not open to delivery lorries, this caused the delay.  It has been heartbreaking to see all our efforts of the past 14 years washed away but we have faith that we will recover.  I feel blessed that our surau, one of the areas of the farmhouse that I loved so much suffered minimal damage and the main work required was to remove the thick mud left behind and cleaning everything up.The various copies of the Al-Quran in the surau was all undamaged.

Our surau, post-cleanup.

Just as the cleanup was done, we were hit with another flood in March, 2022.  Another round of cleanup was required.  Alhamdulillah, this time it wasn’t as bad as the water just rose about 1 feet.

We have been busy rebuilding the necessary and though this time, we have watched many mature trees die.  These included cempedak, nangka, soursop, bananas, pomegranate, calamansi and several other types.  From the floods we have lost about 40% of our trees.  I view this as an opportunity for us to improve our planning and planting of new trees as well as the placement of the trees.

All the products that we had produced is also gone or destroyed.  Effectively, we will not be able to sell any produce or products for many months ahead.  As our products are farm-based, we would have to replant our source materials and this will take a few months.  Only then can we start producing and selling again.  This too will require new investment as I will need to replace all the equipment that we use for production of our products.  I refuse to ponder over our losses as it will not bring any benefit and can only cause depression.

No longer looks like fish ponds.

i don’t know when we will get to the rebuilding of the fish ponds.  There was 4 ponds, all interconnected but separated with piping laid for water to flow between the ponds before going out into Sg. Lui.  After the flood, the ponds were filled with sand and debris and the fish is basically all gone.  I will ponder over the plan first and the amount required to invest in the work.  For now, I am not rushing it as I have a feeling that it will be a substantial amount.

Through it all, we remain committed to our ideals and continue to rebuild the farm keeping true to our commitment of producing goods based on naturally or organically grown plants and trees, without the use of any chemicals agents whether from fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides.  In shaa Allah, by end of 2022, the farm will be stabilized and we can focus on growing it.  So for now, the farm remains closed to visitors whilst we rebuild and restart our operations.