KUALA LUMPUR – The controversial bid to degazette the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve (KLNFR) has taken another twist.
The 60ha plot of land promised to the Orang Asli community in Kg Busut Baru if the degazettement is successful, is theirs in the first place.
This was the contention of Colin Nicholas, coordinator of the Centre for Orang Asli Concerns.
He said that the plot is part of an unfulfilled compensation in 1993 when the Temuan tribespeople were resettled next to KLNFR to give way to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport development.
“In 1993, they were promised 404ha and that was supposed to be carved out and gazetted from KLNFR for the Temuan tribespeople, but not all of it was given to them in 1994.
“So, now they are told that if they agree (to the degazettement), they will be given extra land the size of which was already promised to them in 1994. What kind of con game is this?”
The degazettement of KLNFR – all 971ha of it – for a mixed development project was mooted last year.
But a public hearing on the matter was only done last month, where it was heavily objected by the locals.
While KLNFR is state land, Nicholas said a 1927 gazette notice on the forest reserve stated that the nearby Orang Asli tribes were accorded the rights to use the forest.
The Vibes sighted the notice and some of the said privileges are as follows:
- The right to the fruit from the dusun (small orchards) of which they are holders and to maintain in good order of the said dusun.
- The privilege of cultivating food crops in old clearings formerly cultivated by them or their ancestors.
- The privilege of living in the reserve at a place or places approved by the Deputy Conservator of Forest.
- The right to water from the streams for domestic and agricultural purposes.
- The right to timber and bark of class II trees (as defined in the Forest Rules for the time being in force) bamboos, canes, attap, honey, wax, wood-oil, jungle fruits, roots, vegetables, leaves and fibres in sufficient quantities for the erection and maintenance of their huts and for their own domestic use, but not for sale or barter.
- The privilege of hunting, shooting and fishing to supply food for themselves and their families but not for purposes of trade or barter, subject to rules and restrictions as many for the time being are enforced generally and in reserved forests.
- The right of way for the purpose of exercising the above rights and privileges.
In Selangor, degazetting a forest reserve requires a reimbursement of equal nature and value, as per the state land code.
While the authorities did not disclose which forest would be gazetted, a source told The Vibes that KLNFR would be replaced with 1,177ha of peat swamp forests near Sg Karang in Sg Besar and Ampang Pecah in Hulu Selangor.
“Although the Temuan tribespeople are being offered 404ha in total, the state government is not all considering that this is one of the last few peat swamp forests remaining in Selangor,” said Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil of green group Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia.
She added that the degazettement would lead to the inevitable death of the wildlife in KLNFR, despite government assurances that the state Wildlife Department has the expertise to relocate endemic species in the forest.
“The government will always dish out sweet promises, but it won’t do it. What is going to happen to the wildlife endemic to KLNFR?
“What kind of human beings are we if we allow these animals to go extinct just for the greed of development?
“We have just lost our last Sumatran rhinoceros. We lost two species of snails from quarry activities in Pahang and Perak.
“Are we to lose more just for the greed of developers seeking to enrich themselves?” Shariffa asked. – The Vibes, October 29, 2020
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