Selangor MB says decision on degazetting forest reserve may take another month
INTERVIEW | More than a year has passed since the proposal to degazette 931 hectares (ha) of peat forest from the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve.
In an interview with Malaysiakini, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said ongoing deliberations could take at least another month.
However, he reassured that the state's decision would take into account more than 40,000 objections to the plan.
"What we want to ensure is that development can continue in the area while at the same time maintain an ample size of the forest and not disturb the Orang Asli communities, including their ancestral graves and others," he added.
On the same note, Amirudin described some of the objections as "irrelevant".
"We received more than 40,000 objections from NGOs and individuals, both local and foreign, which we are in the process of scrutinising.
"The state government will obtain a full report from the state Forestry Department on the various objections," he added.
Aside from the objections, other factors to be considered include the reports submitted by various state agencies to a specialised committee tasked with tabling the findings to the state executive committee.
The 'not so endangered' species
On Feb 5 last year, the Selangor Forestry Department had advertised in several newspapers its intention to degazette the forest reserve for the purpose of a mixed-development project.
Responding to the department's 30-day notice, various environmental groups, including Greenpeace Malaysia, had submitted their objections. There was also a campaign aimed at federal and state lawmakers.
According to Greenpeace Malaysia, the movement control order enforced last March to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic had stalled their efforts up until September when stakeholders received a last-minute invitation to attend a town hall session held in Pulau Carey, Klang.
Those who attended and raised their objections included politicians from both sides of the divide, the local Temuan Orang Asli community, environmental NGOs, federal agencies and even a private firm.
Amiruddin, who has yet to receive the full report, downplayed certain concerns such as how the plan could be a potential threat to endangered species found in the peatland forest area that was first gazetted in 1927.
"Some of the objections were irrelevant, for example, the ones on (threats to) endangered species.
"Yes, they (the species) can be found in the area, but they are also found in other areas and are not as endangered as the word used (to describe them). But will the state government bulldoze the plan? Of course not," he added.
Social justice movement Aliran had argued that the plan would affect species like the Malayan sun bear, Selangor pygmy flying squirrel and Langat red fighting fish, especially with climate change worsening.
The Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve is also home to generations of Orang Asli from the Temuan tribe, numbering around 2,000 people in the community at present.
Commenting further, Amirudin said the state government would maintain an "adequate" amount of overall forest reserve, now at an estimated 31 percent or just one percent more than its minimum 30 percent threshold.
He also noted that approvals to degazette forest reserves for commercial development and agriculture projects are not new.
Responding to the initial opposition, Amirudin had in February last year said any approval for the mixed-development project would see the state gazetting new peat forest areas of "at least 1,092ha" in replacement.
At the time, Singapore-based daily The Straits Times quoted an official source who said that state-run Menteri Besar Inc would own some 364ha of the proposed development, while the remaining 566.56ha would be awarded to Titian Jutaria, a private company with reported links to the Selangor palace. - Mkini
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