Exco member in charge of the environment Hee Loy Sian (PH-Kajang) told the state assembly today that the inquiry process is still ongoing and no decision had been reached yet.
“We heard the objections from NGOs, residents and Orang Asli communities from Sept 28 to Sept 29 over the proposal to degazette,” he said.
Lau Weng San (PH-Banting) said he maintained his stand that the forest should not be degazetted as a reserve and asked if there was a deadline for the state government to complete the report after hearing objections and holding discussions with various agencies.
“We are still waiting for the report by relevant agencies. For now, there is no deadline for us to call a meeting at the committee stage as the report is not done yet,” Hee said, adding that the committee would be chaired by him and the agencies involved, such as the Forestry Department, Selangor Land and Mines Office, and the Wildlife and National Parks Department, among others.
R Rajiv (PH-Bukit Gasing) said he did not receive any invitation for the public hearing despite putting forward his objections to the proposal to degazette the forest.
Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi (PAS-Sijangkang) said that he too did not receive the invitation even though his constituency falls under the forest reserve area.
“We also need clarification on how many hectares of the forest the state government wishes to delist from the gazette because we’ve received conflicting information,” he said.
Hee told the PH and PAS assemblymen that they had received over 45,000 objections and could not call each of them to listen to their views due to Covid-19. “Maybe we overlooked Bukit Gasing’s objection,” he added.
Hee also told the assembly the state government intended to degazette 2,400ha of the forest reserve, with 150ha set aside for the Orang Asli community.
Previously, Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man had urged the state government to preserve the reserve to ensure environmental sustainability.
“Areas that have been gazetted (as forest reserves) should remain as such even though the state government may want to tap into these to meet economic needs. We cannot avoid development but future implications should be a priority,” he said.
Stakeholders and environmental groups have also raised their objections.