Sudah setahun sejak sebuah akhbar tempatan menghebahkan tentang penemuan Kota Gelanggi/Linggiu oleh penyelidik bebas Raimi Che Ross, masyarakat terutarnanya yang benninat tentang sejarah dan warisan sering tertanya apakah benar kola ini wujud. Apakah pula penemuan kumpulan penyelidik yang diketuai oleh Jabatan Muzium Malaysia. Walaupun cerita ini sudah hilang di akhbar tempatan isu yang sarna masih bincangkan oleh pelbagai pihak dengan teori masing-masing.

Pada 28 April 2006 Encik Khalid Syed Ali, Kurator Arkeolgi Bahagian Penyelidikan dan Pembangunan Jabatan Warisan Negara memberikan jawapan kepada pelbagai persoalan ini melalui kertas kerja bertajuk Merungkai Misteri Kota Purba Linggiu yang dibentangkan dalam Siri Forum Kurator 2006 anjuran Jabatan Muzium Malaysia. Beliau memberikan maklumat lengkap tentang apa yang dilakukan oleh pihak Jabatan Muzium bagi merungkai misteri kota purba tersebut. Menurut beliau kumpulan penyelidik seramai 15 orang telah dibentuk untuk menyertai ekspedisi mencari Kota Linggiu. Kumpulan yang diketuai Jabatan Muzium Malaysia ini turut disertai Pusat Remote Sensing Negara (MACRES), tokoh akademik clan penyelidik dari Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Malaya, clan Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Persatuan Ikatan Arkeologi Malaysia, Yayasan Warisan Johor, Jabatan Perhutanan Johor, dan Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli Johor.

Lokasl Yang Dikatakan Sebago! Tapak Kota Purba Linggiu

Lokasi tumpuan kajian berdasarkan gambar satelit

K

etibaan kumpulan penyelidik setelah menyusuri Sungai Linggiu

           ;
Tugas penyelidik lebih mudah kerana kawasan itu dikenal pasti melalui toto udara yang disiarkan oleh akhbar The Star, 3 Februari 2005 berdasarkan dakwaan penyelidik bebas Raimy Che-Ross sebagai lokasi sebenar Kota Gelanggi (The Lost City of Gelanggi) kata Khalid yang turut menyertai ekspedisi itu: Pada 21 Mac 2005 para penyelidik terus menuju ke lokasi yang di kenal pasti melalui foto satelit yang diusahakan oleh MACRES.

Apabila tiba ke tapak lokasi pengamatan pertama Iditumpukan pada permukaan kawasan berkenaan sama ada terdapat peninggalan sebarang struktur atau binaan. Pemerhatian mata kasar tidak mengalami masalah besar kerana tapak itu bukan kawasan diliputi hutan tebal dan pokok besar, sekadar semak samun dan kawasan belukar yang agak kering. Pencarian diteruskan sarna ada terdapat sebarang kesan, objek atau penemuan yang boleh dikaitkan dengan kewujudan sebuah penempatan khususnya Kota Purba Linggiu. Tiada sebarang jumpaan yang boleh dikaitkan terhadap wujudnya sebuah kota di kawasan itu.

Kumpulan penyelidik menyusuri laluan berbentuk "u" dengan kesan bekas laluan seperti dipaparkan dalam akhbar The Star, juga seperti imej yang diterima melalui foto satelit. Laluan menyusuri kawasan tersebut terpaksa mengharungi semak samun tumbuhan resam dan pakis yang telah meliputi sepanjang jalan sambil cuba mencari kesan fizikal dan batuan hitam (black stone) seperti didakwa yang boleh dikaitkan dengan kewujudan sebuah kota purba. Tiada satu pun bukti yang ditemui kecuali beberapa bongkah batu pasir (sand stone) sebagai hasil pembentukan semula jadi di beberapa tempat laluan tersebut.

Kesan aktiviti pembalakan.
Kiri : Imej satelit. Kanan: Gambar dari The Star

Menurut Khalid, setelah menamatkan pusingan "U" tapak yang didakwa sebagai kola purba, kumpulan penyelidik cuba mencari petunjuk lain untuk memungkinkan tinjaun dan kajian selanjutnya, Damon kesan laluan yang dipenuhi tumbuhan resam jelas menunjukkan laluan itu adalah bekas laluan/jalan aktiviti pembalakan yang pernah dijalankan di kawasan tersebut. Kenyataan ini disokong oleh petugas Jabatan Perhutanan Johor yang turut serta sebagai penunjuk jalan. Tambahan pula tidak ada kesan bukti yang menunjukkan wujudnya binaan tembok barn. Penelitian dibuat apabila didapati terdapat juga dua jajaran jalan balak di sebelah alas kawasan yang sedikit tinggi (seperti berbukit) clan di sebelah bawahnya yang membentuk seperti dua lereng.

Di ruang tengah di antara jalan (lereng) tersebut menampakkan struktur binaan horizontal seakan-akan pembentukanjajaran tembok yang melintang terutamanya apabila dip an dang dari jauh at au tempat yang tinggi. Kumpulan penyelidik menaruh harapan tinggi agar kola yang dicari sudah ditemui. Pengamatan selanjutnya mendapatijajaran itu hanyalah timbunan tumbuhan resam yang nampaknya terbonjol ke luar basil pembentukan dua jalan balak di sebelah alas clan bawah timbunan res am tersebut. Sepanjang kajian penyelidik menggunakan peralatan seperti tukul besi clan "scrapper" untuk memastikan tidak tertinggal untuk menemui pembentukan batuan di sepanjang jalan yang dilalui.

Walaupun tiada bukti arkeologi ditemui di tapak tersebut. Kakitangan Jabatan Hutan Johor dan beberapa orang nelayan tuan punya bot yang menyertai tinjauan di tapak tersebut juga sedikit sebanyak bertindak sebagai responden. Kebanyakan penjelasan yang diperoleh menemukan jawapan yang tidak pasti dan banyak unsur mitos yang_masih membayangi kewujudan Kota Purba Linggiu. Ada juga responden yang memberi jawapan bahawa kemungkinan tapak kota purba yang di cari telah tenggelam akibat pembinaan Empangan Linggiu pada tahun 1990. Empangan ini dibina dan diuruskan olel Public Utility Board, pihak berkuasa Singapura.

Realiti Yang Membongkar Misteri.

Disebabkan masa yang diberikan oleh pihak kementerian agak terbatas, penyelidikan yang dilakukan hanya mengambil masa lebih kurang satu bulan dan tempoh ini tidak memungkinkal penyelidikan mendalam. Namun begitu penyelidikan dibuat dengan pelbagai pendekatan, dan menggabungkan disiplin yang berkaitan seperti Kajian Literatur (berdasarkan penulisan), Kajian Lapangan, Kajian Botani, Tinjauan Geologi, Kajian Bawah Ail clan Ekskavasi Percubaan" kata Khalid yang akhirnya member beberapa kesimpulan penting:

1. Tapak, yang didakwa. tempat kewujudan kota purba tersebut di kawasan Sungai Linggiu dalam kawasan empangan grid bacaan GPS 625129, 218818 tenyata tidak benar. Tiga petak ekskavasi percubaan telah membuktikannya.

2. Dakwaan tapak tersebut telah tenggelam akibat pembinaan empangan juga didapati tidak benar kerana ujian sonar dan aktiviti menyelam secara snockling dilaksanakan di beberapa lokasi di empangan tersebut yang difikirkan  berkemungkinan wujudnya kota tersebut berdasarkan cerita cerita lisan,namun tiada bukti positif ditemui.

3. Tinjauan dan survei permukaan ke lokasi Anjung Batu (Ban Berdinding) mendapati kewujudan struktur batuan grait adalah proses semula jadi yang berlaku. Tiada kesal kewujudan fonnasi kota malah tidak ditemui tapak-tapal candi menurut kepercayaan Hindu-Budha di lokasi tersebut

4. Tinjauan dan kajian permukaan di Hulu Sungai Tebak gagal menemui binaan berbentuk kota. batuan yang wujud di tebing sungai itu adalah pembentukan secara semula jad batuan jenis granit dan sand stone.

5.Manuskrip Orang Asli yang didakwa menunjukkan peta lakaran candi kota purba ternyata sengaja dimanipulasikan

Ekskavasi percubaan untuk mencari bukti.

Tiada kaitan manuskrip tersebut dengan kewujudan kola purba.

6. Tidak ada patung Hindu atau Buddha ataupun inskripsi epigrafi di atas granit yang berusia antara 650 daD 1025 Tahun Masihi ditemui ketika kajian dijalankan seperti didakwa Raimy Che Ros sama ada di kawasan Linggiu, Madek maupun di Kahang.

7. Hasil kajian pennukaan di FELDA Nitar Timur dan Loh Heng, serpihan tembikar yang ditemui adalah tembikar zaman mutakhir (Dinasti Ching) sekitar 1912 untuk kegunaan harian masyarakat marhaen. Tidak ada barangan dagangan apatah lagi sebagai kota pusat perdagangan

8.Kewujudan sebuah kota purba dapat dibuktikan penafiannya berdasarkan pelbagai bukti yang diperolehi secara empiris dan bersifat fizikal berbanding kenyataan yang dibuat melalui pendekatan sastera, magis dan mitos yang cuba direalitikan melalui pendekatan pseudo arkeologi.

Tumbuhan resam dan pakis yang memenuhi laluan

Misteri atau realiti : Hanya Sungai Linggiu yang menjadi saksi kepada sejarah silam yang berlaku di sini

Mencari bukti bawah air di Empangan Linggiu

Daripada kesimpulan yang dibuat basil penyelidikan tersebut, kita amat berharap Raimi Che Ross dapat memberikan jawapan kerana seperti yang dikatakan oleh Khalid sebuah kota yang didakwa sebesar kawasan 'tiga segi emas' di Kuala Lumpur tentulah tidak sukar untuk ditemui buktinya. Apatah lagi kumpulan penyelidik terdiri daripada pakar pelbagai bidang yang pergi ke lokasi dengan harapan untuk menemui kota itu bukan menaflkan kewujudannya. Namun begitu kajian selanjutnya akan diteruskan dan pihak J abatan Warisan tidak secara muktamad mengatakan kota itu tidak wujud cuma berdasarkan kajian yang dijalankan sehingga kirii tidak ditemui sebarang bukti yang dapat mengesahkan kewujudan kota Purba Linggiu.

Sebenarnya kerjasama daripada Raimi individu yang mendakwa menjumpai kota itu tentulah lebih bermakna. Jemputan daripada pihak Jabatan Muzium tidak mendapat jawapan yang menggalakkan daripada beliau. Jika kewujudan kota purba ini ada kebenarannya setiap rakyat Malaysia seharusnya berbangga kerana monumen ini adalah khazanah silam yang tinggi nilainya. Negara kita akan duduk sebaris dengan Pulau Jawa yang berbangga denganCandi Borobudur maupun Kampuchea yang megah dengan Angkor Wat. Siapa yang menjumpai kota itu tidaklah begitu penting berbanding dengan khazanah yang ditemui. .

PENANG: The Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry will submit to the Cabinet in August a report on the initial findings of its expedition to the lost city of Kota Gelanggi in Johor. 

Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said Museum and Antiquities Department director-general Datuk Dr Adi Taha had briefed him on the expedition’s early findings. 

“So far, we have sporadic findings, a little bit here and there which I am not at liberty to disclose yet,” Rais told reporters after opening a joint exhibition on Reminiscences of the Straits Settlements Through Postcards by the National Archives of Malaysia and Singapore here yesterday. He also launched a book on the same title at the function. 

Interest in the lost city was triggered after researcher Raimy Che Ross claimed that he might have located the lost city of Kota Gelanggi.  

Three teams recently began their initial research and search for the city.

BANGI: Part of the Johor jungle, where the reported lost city is believed to be located, has been cleared for logging and agriculture as recent as between six months and 10 years ago, according to a geologist.  

Prof Dr Ibrahim Komoo of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia said the satellite images taken by the Malaysian Centre for Remote Sensing (Macres), which showed light green patches of rectangular lines, revealed the different stages of land clearing conducted within that time frame. 

“I’m really surprised to see that some of the land had been cleared so recently,” he said.  

This satellite image shows various patches of land clearing (note the different colour shadings). The light green patch is a secondary forest that had been cleared not more than 10 years ago while the bottom brown ones had been cleared between six months and a few years.

“From the images you can also see that the bottom left part had been cleared between six months and few years because new vegetation is growing,” he added. 

“The section of light brown patch above it had been cleared about six months ago as it is still barren,” he said, adding that yellow patches showed that the grass had either dried up or was cleared.  

“It is not impossible to find a city in cleared areas as those who cleared the land may not be aware of its archaeological value,” he said, adding that land clearers could provide valuable information that could contribute to the search for the lost city. 

“They might have seen unusual formations be it a rock or a wall, even if it’s just the top portion, while clearing the land,” he said. 

There was also evidence of several dirt roads built from different directions along that area, possibly for logging purposes, he added. 

Dr Komoo also noted that it was crucial to determine the age of the site and it could be done through carbon dating artefacts and studying the soil behaviour and layering. 

He added that geophysical techniques could be used to detect structures buried between 15m and 20m underground. 

“If sandstones or laterite rocks were used 1,000 years ago, they will be badly weathered by now.” 

Although the sandstones could have turned into soil, its general features like their arrangements could be detected from the ground by remote sensing or aerial photographs, he said. 

“The structures could also be buried between five and 10m deep into the ground because of sedimentation and they will be completely gone if they were made of wood,” he added. 

The Department of Museum and Antiquities is expected to lead an expedition, dubbed “The Search for Kota Purba Linggiu,” in April.  

SUNGAI PETANI: The Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry has named the expedition to locate the lost city of Kota Gelanggi as “The Search for Kota Purba Linggiu.” 

“There is proof that the place was noted as Kota Purba Linggiu (Old City of Linggiu) and we will stick to that,” said minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim. 

Dr Rais said the three expedition teams searching for the possible site in Johor had been given two weeks to come up with ways on how to approach the task in a uniform and co-ordinated manner. 

Dr Rais (left) being briefed by the Museums and Antiquities Dept director-general Datuk Dr Adi Taha at Bujang Valley in Merbok, Kedah, Friday. - Bernamapic

He said he would meet the teams once they had worked out the details in order to brief the Johor government. 

The state government’s assistance was needed for the provision of basic infrastructure facilities, including the setting up of a base camp and security arrangements, Dr Rais said after visiting the Bujang Valley Archaeological Museum in Merbok near here where he also viewed new historical excavations in Pengkalan Bujang. 

The Star reported yesterday that the teams comprised ministry officials, archaeologists from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Malaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris and Malaysian Remote Sensing Centre representatives. 

They hoped to enter three different parts of the site's possible location by early April. 

Interest in the lost city was triggered after researcher Raimy Che Ross claimed that he might have located the lost city of Kota Gelanggi 

KUALA LUMPUR: The group that will be setting out in search of a lost city in Johor will be split into three teams and enter three different parts of the possible location of the ancient site, most likely in early April.  

Department of Museums and Antiquities director-general Datuk Dr Adi Taha said the area located around the Linggiu River would be divided into Kangkar, Kahang and Madek. 

“We are writing a research proposal to guide us in this research and to have a more focused approach with the same level of expertise at the different locations.  

“We have identified the areas and the approach will be concentrated at the mentioned areas. Archaeologists from the universities have agreed to work together,” he said yesterday after chairing a meeting between various parties. 

They included Culture, Arts and Heritage (heritage division) ministry officials, archaeologists from public universities – Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Malaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris – and Malaysian Remote Sensing Centre (Macres) representatives. 

Representatives from Johor were from the Forestry Department, Heritage Foundation and Orang Asli Affairs Department. 

Adi said that Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim would be briefed on the meeting. 

Independent researcher Raimy Che Ross had recently claimed that he may have located the long-sought lost city of Kota Gelanggi through the study of Malay manuscripts, aerial photos and a preliminary ground trip. 

Adi said the first field trip, which was initially planned for mid-March,would now take place in early April.  

This will give members more time to carry out additional research such as going through historical and forest harvesting documents and global positioning system data from Macres.  

Adi said the number of members per team had yet to be determined but would comprise of specialists.  

“The areas are not only the ones that Raimy identified but also based on other sources including the orang asli, prior research by UKM, department curators and oral history.  

“Each area will be a few kilometres in radius,” he said, adding that Raimy would also be included in the expedition.  

“We have to have a scientific approach and this project is of priority to us,” Adi said.  

BANGI: Funding and the involvement of scholars from multiple disciplines such as the sciences, arts and humanities are two major challenges facing anyone organising archaeological projects in the country. 

“Research is very expensive and not many people want to invest in something when they are not sure of getting anything in return,” said Institute of the Malay World and Civilisation (Atma) director Prof Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin yesterday. 

“Another challenge is attracting scholars. We can have the best archaeologists but then there is no support from areas such as science.  

“We need experts in various fields such as literature, environment, religion and the economy. There are just not enough qualified people,” he said.  

Consequently, he said, finding the lost city in Johor was just “the tip of the iceberg” and bigger tasks lay ahead.  

“It is not so much locating a lost city. It is like locating the Sungai Besi toll and not knowing why it was built,” he said. 

He added that any discovery should neither be overemphasised nor underrated.  

Institute of the Malay World and Civilisation (Atma) director Prof Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin

Archaeologists, such as Prof Datuk Dr Nik Hassan Suhaimi Nik Abdul Rahman, who is also with Atma, have been involved in numerous excavations in Malaysia including around the Johor River, Perak, Tasik Chini in Pahang and the Bujang Valley in Kedah. 

Independent researcher Raimy Che Ross recently claimed he might have located the long-sought Kota Gelanggi through the study of Malay manuscripts, aerial photos and a preliminary ground trip.  

Search for Kota Gelanggi 

PETALING JAYA: Ancient Chinese manuscripts have indicated the existence of the lost city of Kota Gelanggi as a city of shining black stone, according to a Chinese history expert. 

The city, also believed to be called Klang Kiu, was mentioned in the more than 1,000-year-old manuscript found in the book Strange Countries from the Cambridge Library Rare Books Collection, said Universiti Putra Malaysia chemical engineering Prof Dr Tan Ka Kheng who has been researching for several years. 

Tan, who minors in History of Science, said the book had an illustration of a bell adorned by two Buddhas, lotus flowers and birds, which apparently existed in the city, which had a stupa-like multi-tiered structure. 

“The structure according to the book was 32 chang (each chang is 3.3m) high and they were surrounded by 300 graves,” he said. 

“The structure could accommodate 360 people at any one time,” he told The Star. 

Dr Tan: 'The city was an important point for trade'.

“The scriptures had indicated that this city was somewhere in the peninsula,” he said. 

Another sketch from the manuscript had a picture of a Buddha and a Hindu deity on an altar and a worshipper paying homage to them and this could also be from the lost city which was also called Pulau An, he said. 

He said Pulau An meant peace and took four nights by boat to travel from Majapahit in Jawa then. 

Dr Tan also noted that Chinese maps dating 1600AD had mentioned the existence of the ancient city in the peninsula. 

“The city was an important point for trade and supplies and functioned as a stop over for people,” he said. 

“Many of the scriptures recorded the observations of Chinese travellers at their port of call such as the characteristics of the people and the area, distinct cultures and customs of the locals,” he added. 

Dr Tan said artefacts found downstream from the site in Kota Gelanggi, which were being kept by the Johor Heritage Foundation, confirmed that the city was a trading post. 

Among the artefacts found were porcelain items from the Chinese dynasties like the Soong, Ming and Qing, and from Thailand, Khmer and Vietnam. 

Earthenware with carvings believed to be from the 11th century had also been located.  

Dr Tan, who has studied Chinese maps and scriptures for 15 years, said the city of Klang Kiu should not be confused with Langkasuka, which is believed to be sitting at the bottom of Tasik Chini in Pahang. 

“Chinese scriptures indicated that Langkasuka had lotus ponds and people who wore sarong, made pottery and had the practice of cutting their long hair,” he said.  

PETALING JAYA: A chandi (temple) is believed to be located in the lost city, according to an illustration on rare orang asli manuscripts. 

The manuscripts together with a pictorial book have been kept by orang asli families who lived near the area until the 1950s, when they were relocated by the British Army following a communist insurgency. 

Independent researcher Raimy Che-Ross believes that the manuscripts depict a naive but highly-accurate front elevation and ground-plan representation of the Chandi Kota Gelanggi and its ancillary temple-complex when the orang asli visited the site in 1920-30s.  

Edin (right) and Kampung Sayong Pinang village head Adong Kuwau showing the orang asli manuscripts and pictorial book (on table) recently.

He cautiously assumes the basic chandi was slightly smaller than Borobudur and could be the same age or slightly older.  

“The most important and significant historical and archaeological structure that lies in the ruins of this lost city is the Chandi Kota Gelanggi. It is a large multi-terraced chandi crowned by a triple-layered stupa. There is no other structure comparable to it in the Malay peninsula. 

“One of the manuscripts drawing show the double-walls of the temple enclosure, with crenulations (regular gaps along the top of a castle for firing arrows) along its upper walls. There is also a detailed drawing of the main temple-gateway and the terraces leading up to the triple-stupa,” he said when contacted. 

Raimy also said another manuscript showed a small pavilion-like structure framed by thin granite pillars, inside of which were granite walls with two round windows on either side of its main doorway, similar to that found at the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple in Malacca. 

“The squiggles drawn all around the temple are referred to by the orang asli as their 'prayers'. It is possible that they represent epigraphic inscriptions, which may be found carved and inscribed onto the temple walls,” he said. 

He added that the squiggles could resemble an attempt to replicate examples of Kawi or Sanskrit similar to those found on existing Srivijayan Prasasti (inscribed prayers and historical statements on stone). 

“If this is true, and we do indeed find epigraphic inscriptions on the chandi, then the immense value of the discovery for Malay history is beyond imagination,” he added. 

The manuscripts are being kept by 41-year-old Edin Lekok, who received it from his father, Lekok Jenta, last year.  

They were passed down by his great-great grandmother Nenek Tunggal. 

The orang asli from this area who practice a kind of worship called Alam Mulia, however, do not know what the manuscripts mean but consider them holy items. 

The colour of the ink has not faded through the years and Edin has laminated the manuscripts to keep it from falling apart. 

Edin also said that although he had known of the manuscripts' existence, his father did not show them to him until the day they were handed over to him.  

PETALING JAYA: Authorities said that the satellite image of the possible site of the lost city of Kota Gelanggi has strengthened the belief that “something” existed in the area. 

Department of Museums and Antiquities director-general Datuk Dr Adi Taha said the image acquired by The Star from the Malaysian Centre for Remote Sensing (Macres) had confirmed that some structures or logging tracks existed in the area. 

“There is no doubt about that now,” he said. 

Adi said although it was too early to make conclusions, satellite images had in the past helped in archaeological research even in the discovery of Angkor Wat. 

He said the department would meet Macres officials this week to get their help.  

“We will lead a team to the site and engage professionals to be part of the team,” he added. 

Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said the expedition team to be led by the department to locate the lost city in Johor have been told to “leave no stone unturned” in carrying out the job given to them. 

SUPERIMPOSED IMAGE FOR THE POSSIBLE CHANDI KOTA GELANGGI Photo by Raimy Che-Ross

Possible features of the chandi  1. Slightlty small than Borobudur, and may either be the same age or slightly older  2. Entire complex sits on a large square platform, which sits on a larger lozenge-like mound dais  3. Attached to the chandi's northwestern flank facing the river is an ancillary temple flanked by a double-walled enclosure, which may be a royal temple or the abode for senior monks  4. Framing its southeastern end is a sharply pointed platform, resembling the tip of an arrow, with steps in the middle leading up to a small temple pavilion that forms the gateway to the main chandi itself. There are also earthen and granite ramparts zigzagging up the sides of the chandi.  5. There are numerous other temples and ruins scattered throughout the area

 

He said that full responsibility had been handed over to the department and the ministry would only assist when necessary. 

“I was shown the images by various people but being a sceptic myself, I realise there is no scientific conclusion as to what was underneath,” he said when commenting on the satellite images.  

“The Museums Department already has some formative pictures but it is not comprehensive unless we go there and find out for ourselves.  

“What we have now presently is not comprehensive enough to indicate that what lies below is a formation.  

“But it does give the perimeter and aerial view of the area,” he said.  

Rais said the required report on the team's work would have to be submitted to the Cabinet in August.  

“If they find that they cannot go on, then the ministry will come in to assist them,” he added. 

The team is expected to have their first meeting on Thursday to plan for a mid-March expedition. 

Oleh Amad Bahri Mardi