Yusof, who chairs the state Public Works, Natural Resources, Water Supply, and Resources and Environmental Committee, criticised RimbaWatch's statement as vague and called for more thorough investigations to provide clearer information.
In a brief text reply to the New Straits Times, he said, "The statement is too general. They will have to investigate and answer many questions first."
He added that no logging activity occurs in areas designated as protected forests in Ulu Muda Forest Reserve.
"According to the state Forestry Department director, no logging activity is approved in the Protected Forest (water catchment forest) in Ulu Muda Forest Reserve," he said.
The environmental group claimed that satellite imagery from October 2023 depicted mud deposits in the Tasik Muda reservoir due to logging activities upstream along Sunga Ulu Muda.
According to RimbaWatch, the satellite images indicated that logging operations resumed in Ulu Muda in 2021 and accelerated in 2022 and 2023.
The NGO claimed that the Tasik Muda reservoir began showing signs of mud and sediment deposits from Sungai Ulu in early 2023 and became visibly muddied in October and December of the same year.
Given the critical role of the Ulu Muda river basin in supplying water to Kedah and regulating flow into Sungai Muda, which provides 80 per cent of water for Penang, RimbaWatch called on the Kedah government to halt logging activities in the Ulu Muda Forest Reserve and investigate the potential environmental impact on the reservoir.
In September 2021, Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor explained to the state assembly that ongoing logging activities in the Ulu Muda Forest Reserve were carried out within compartments approved by previous administrations.
Sanusi clarified that his government did not approve any new concessions but acknowledged legal implications if existing logging licenses were halted.
He also outlined additional terms, including a limit of 4,200 hectares of annual logging based on National Land Council approval and environmentally friendly logging mechanisms.
Sanusi said the state government also raised the buffer zone from 20 metres to 40 metres along the river.