KUALA LUMPUR – The uproar over the Selangor government’s move to degazette part of the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve (KLNFR) shows no sign of abating and has, in fact, intensified.
A coalition of environmental NGOs endeavouring to conserve forests is claiming that the state’s agricultural investment arm had destroyed part of a jungle that is slated to replace the degazetted forest.
The Coalition for the Protection of Selangor’s Forests today said that the Selangor Agriculture Development Corporation (PKPS) had made two attempts to clear portions of the Sg Panjang forest for agricultural development.
“The corporation is currently facing legal action by the Department of Environment (DoE) for clearing the forest without first undertaking an environmental impact assessment (EIA),” the coalition of seven NGOs said in a statement.
The coalition said that it had first highlighted the matter in April after the land was cleared for the Selangor Smart Agricultural Park in February.
The PKPS is chaired by Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.
“The DoE conducted site inspections and issued a notice of instruction to PKPS on April 8 to stop any site clearance work, as described under Section 31 of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127),” the statement read.
However, despite the stop-work order, the coalition claimed PKPS continued clearing the site until May, based on satellite data.
Previously in 2014, the coalition had said that PKPS bulldozed 50ha of forest and dug drains in an attempt to develop oil palm plantations on the land.
“They were subsequently forced to abandon the cleared area as they had no permission to develop this land,” the statement added.
On August 30, state executive councillor Hee Loy Sian had told the Selangor assembly that more than 50% of the KLNFR had already been degazetted since May.
However, in view of objections to the proposal, only 536ha of the 991ha forest were degazetted, he had said.
Hee, who heads the state’s tourism, environment and green technology portfolio, added that the affected areas will be compensated by the gazettement of land in three other areas – Sg Panjang, Broga and Ampang Pecah.
The issue will now be tabled by Amirudin during the state executive council meeting on Wednesday.
This follows the PKR national leadership instructing Amirudin to resolve the issue after a heated meeting between him and the party’s political bureau on September 1. Amirudin is chairman of Selangor PKR and the state Pakatan Harapan (PH).
In a statement on Friday, Selangor PH had said the decision to bring the matter to the exco level follows a meeting with chiefs of PH components in the state earlier that day.
The degazettement of KLNFR – all 971ha of it – for a mixed-development project had been mooted in 2019.
But a public hearing on the matter was only done in September last year, where it was heavily objected to by locals, including native Orang Asli, environmentalists and the public. – The Vibes, September 5, 2021
