PETALING JAYA: The Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve (KLNFR) has been making headlines for several years, but it is not always good news.
Recently, the worst fears of environmentalists and Orang Asli activists became real when the Selangor state assembly was told that 536.7ha of the 8,000-year-old forest had been degazetted to make way for development.
FMT takes a closer look at one of the most controversial decisions of Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari’s administration.
Background
KLNFR was gazetted as a forest reserve in 1927. The 7,246.96ha reserve is made up mostly of peatland swamps and is home to the Meranti tree and other flora and to several endangered fauna species, such as the Selangor pygmy flying squirrel and the Langat red fighting fish.
Also, about 2,000 Orang Asli of the Temuan tribe reside in several villages in the vicinity.
Plans for development
The Selangor government made a proposal to degazette the reserve early last year, causing a public uproar and provoking objections and protests, mainly by the Temuan community, NGOs and environmentalists.
The degazetting is to allow commercial development by private interests.
Environmental activist Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil has said there is a need to amend laws related to the forest and environment, mainly the Forestry Act of 1984.
According to Klima Action Malaysia, the forest stores more than 15 billion litres of water in its peat soil and supplies groundwater to nearby areas. It said this important environmental function would be disrupted by any development project.
Opponents of the degazetting have asked lawmakers and politicians to object to it.
Last November, the state assembly approved a motion urging the state government to protect and preserve gazetted forest reserves. However, despite continuous objections, the state government has refused to drop its plan and it was revealed early this week that the 536.7ha would be degazetted.
State executive councillor Hee Loy Sian told FMT the decision was made under Section 12 of the National Forestry Act (Adoption) Enactment 1985.
He said the state had taken into account the objections raised following the initial proposal to develop 931.16ha, and that the total area that had now been earmarked was 54% of the initial size.
Hee said 42.1ha of the earmarked area would be given to Gabungan Indah Sdn Bhd for a mixed development project.
PKR president Anwar Ibrahim said afterwards that his party was not informed of the decision and demanded an explanation from Amirudin, who is the Selangor PKR chief.
Subsequently, following a meeting of PKR leaders, the party announced that Amirudin had agreed to postpone the degazettement until the state had reviewed all issues raised.
Questions over Gabungan Indah
On Wednesday, the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4), citing data from the Companies Commission of Malaysia and several reports, raised concerns about Gabungan Indah.
It said both Gabungan Indah and its parent company, Vibrantscape Sdn Bhd, were incorporated only last December and were shell companies with only RM1 as paid-up capital.
Vibrantscape is wholly owned by Perdana Parkcity, the developer of Desa Parkcity in Kuala Lumpur.
C4 noted that Amirudin revealed in March last year that Titian Jutaria Sdn Bhd and Menteri Besar Selangor Incorporated (MBI Selangor) had proposed developing KLNFR, raising questions of a conflict of interest as Amirudin sits on MBI Selangor’s decision-making committee.
Titian Jutaria has since been dissolved.
What now?
Centre for Orang Asli Concerns coordinator Colin Nicholas has alleged that the U-turn by the state government was a political move to appease people objecting to the degazettement.
He said the postponement was a “blatant lie” because the forest reserve had already been degazetted on Aug 12. Legally, the 537.7ha are no longer part of the reserve.
“I hope the state government will re-gazette part of the forest reserve,” he told FMT.
He said the Orang Asli community residing near the reserve depended heavily on the forest.
“The forest is an integral part of the Orang Asli community. Without it, the younger generations will lose their identity, culture, and traditions,” he said.