A POLITICAL party championing environmental causes has labelled the Selangor government’s announcement on re-gazetting the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve (KLNFR) last week as “election candy”, ahead of the six state polls.

Parti Hijau Malaysia founder Abdul Razak Ismail said Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari was supposed to announce the re-gazetting last year when he announced the revoking of the de-gazettement in September 2021.

Back then, Amirudin said the revoking would include cancelling the ownership of the land, which was previously transferred to a private company for a mixed-development project.

The decision came after a recent halt order the state government issued on plans to de-gazette 536.7ha of the KLNFR, which received public objection from both civil society groups and several Selangor assemblymen.

“It was supposed to be re-gazetted last year. The MB is one-and-a-half-year late in making the announcement.

“He promised to announce it last year and now with state elections coming, this is just ‘election candy’,” said the former PKR man.

Last Saturday, Amirudin said the re-gazettement was finalised during a state government meeting two weeks ago.

“The total forest area is still the same as before. The Selangor Forestry Department will undertake administration of the area,” he had said.

State Tourism, Environment, Green Technology and Orang Asli Affairs Committee chairman Hee Loy Sian had previously announced the de-gazettement at a state assembly sitting on August 30, 2021, approved under section 12, Selangor Forestry Act (Adoption) Enactment 1985.

The KLNFR – made up of 8,000-year-old forests – was gazetted as a permanent forest reserve, covering 7,246.96ha back in 1927.

Today, only 957.6ha of the green lung is left, with 931.17ha of it endangered by the state government’s de-gazettement proposal.

For Sahabat Alam Malaysia, the wait of more than two years warrants a definitive answer.

“For more than two years since the de-gazettement, the Selangor government has been saying over and over again that the area will be re-gazetted.

“With this announcement, we will wait to see the actual gazette and hope that this process is sped up to ensure that the area is back to being a permanent forest reserve, while ensuring that the rights of local indigenous communities are protected,” said spokesman Theiva Lingam.

Meanwhile, Randolph Jeremiah of Environment Protection Society of Malaysia (EPSM) lauded the decision.

The EPSM executive committee member said while development is important for the state, it cannot come at the cost of losing irreplaceable natural habitats that are valuable from the perspective of conservation, utilisation and heritage.

“We would like to commend the decision of the Selangor government in giving due consideration to the feedback provided by all parties for the re-gazettement of the KLNFR.

“The protection of all remaining natural habitats in the state is similarly critical and must be made a priority moving forward,” he added. – June 8, 2023.