Campaign to pressure Selangor lawmakers to oppose degazetting forest reserve

 

A coalition called "Defend the North Kuala Langat Forest Reserve" sent petition letters to all state and federal lawmakers in Selangor yesterday (Oct 29) in a bid to get signatures to oppose the degazetting of this forest reserve.

It then shared a "scorecard" containing the complete list of all 71 assemblypersons and MPs on the website of environmental activist Greenpeace.

Members of the public can see which representative supports the initiative, opposes, or has yet to respond to the letter.

The letter was also published on the website.

While the initiative was only launched yesterday, Kota Anggerik assemblyperson Mohd Najwan Halimi has become the first on the list supporting the initiative.

Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh, whose constituency is outside of Selangor, had voluntarily shown support for the initiative to save the forest reserve from being degazetted. Her name is mentioned at the bottom of the list on the website.

Yeoh was previously the Subang Jaya assemblyperson for Selangor, from 2008 to 2018.

The campaign is being run by Persatuan Kesedaran dan Keadilan Iklim Malaysia (Klima), Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam (Peka), Five Arts Centre, Persatuan Tindakan Alam Sekitar Kuala Langat, Empower Malaysia, Parti Sosialis Malaysia, Persatuan Aktivis Sahabat Alam (Kuasa) and Greenpeace Malaysia.

The people must pressure the politicians

Suaram coordinator Suresh Kumar Balasubramaniam said that the campaign will run from Oct 29 to Nov 12. He said this coincides with the Selangor state legislative assembly sitting which runs from today (Oct 30) until Nov 11.

The campaigners initially planned to get the people's representatives to sign letters in person during the sitting but could not do so due to the conditional movement control order. Instead, the coalition sent the letters to their emails.

"Many of these politicians, they usually try to get into the grey area, where they try to keep mum.

"They think when they do that, they are safe. But this is not the time. This is the time when they should take a stand.

"I wish to congratulate the Kota Anggerik assemblyperson for being the first person (on the list) to sign the letter," Suresh said during a media conference that was broadcast on Facebook.

Klima chairperson Ili Nadiah Dzulfakar (above) appealed to the public to participate in pressuring the politicians to take a stand.

"In the spirit of 'rakyat jaga rakyat' (the people looking after each other), Klima and the coalition members appeal to everyone to put pressure (on the politicians) to take a serious stand to protect and defend the Kuala Langat north forest reserve.

"It's not only for ecological reasons, but also for the rights of the Temuan community.

"Please pressure the MPs and assemblypersons to make the right choice for the people. They are our representatives, otherwise, we can replace them next time," Nadiah said.

Similarly, Peka exco member and Selangor chapter head Damien Thanam Divean (below) said the public must make sure that these people's representatives are accountable for their actions.

"We should go all out to urge the elected representatives to protest. They earn their salaries from the taxpayers' money, they must come out to state their stand," he said.

Orang Asli community lives in fear

Meanwhile, Orang Asli activist and artist Shaq Koyok said the Orang Asli community in the Kuala Langat area is afraid that the government may just move them out of the area.

"We only found out about the notice (to degazette the forest) in the newspaper. They (the state government) didn't follow the proper procedure.

"They didn't consult the community for the project. They just put the notice in the newspaper to make sure nobody finds out," Shaq said.

He said he was shocked by the actions of the state government and that the community there was afraid the authorities may evict them from their villages. He added that the "tok batin" (Orang Asli leaders) were also worried.

The plan to degazette the Kuala Langat (North) Forest Reserve previously received 45,423 objections, including 29,443 through an online petition, 11,953 through email and 3,895 written objections.

Selangor executive councillor for the environment, green technology, science, technology, innovation and consumer affairs Hee Loy Sian revealed in a recent town hall session that Menteri Besar Selangor Incorporated (MBI) is the developer for a proposed mixed-development project at the forest reserve.

According to Hee, the project will only remain in the "proposal" stage until the forest reserve could be converted into commercial or residential land.

Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari previously explained that the government wanted to develop 930.93ha or 97.1 percent of the forest reserve as many trees had become “degraded” and posed a fire hazard.

Amirudin said the Orang Asli would not be affected and gave his assurance that the forest loss would be made up by gazetting new areas as forest reserves.

Aside from the mixed development project, the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) is also expected to cut through a portion of the forest reserve.

Environmental groups have highlighted the importance of the reserve as a habitat for meranti trees, the Malayan sun bear, Selangor pygmy flying squirrel and Langat red fighting fish. - Mkini