If anyone needed more evidence of double standards in governance, it would have to be the latest scandal hitting Tasek Chini.
If 'Ali, Bala and Chong (ABC) Sendirian Bhd' had applied for a mining or logging concession in the area around Tasek Chini, the company's application would have been rejected.
Why? In 2019 and 2020, the Pahang state government had gazetted Tasek Chini and the surrounding areas as a permanent forest reserve and the lake was to be made into a state park.
After much pressure from various NGOs, environmentalists and the Orang Asli, whose home is Tasek Chini, Pahang's Mentri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail announced his ambitious plan to rehabilitate the lake within 10 to 20 years.
The idea was to attract local and foreign tourists to Tasek Chini, which he wanted to turn into a prime tourism destination with its vast array of attractions and recreational facilities.
One has lost count of the number of times successive MBs make janji Melayu (empty promises).
Several academicians have warned that Tasek Chini is on its last legs and in 2012, Transparency International launched a campaign to save Malaysia's second-largest freshwater lake. Will it lose its highly coveted biosphere reserve status awarded by Unesco in 1996?
However, the whiff of money-making was too great for the state, some unscrupulous people and various hangers-on.
You and I may have seen a tranquil lake rich with myths and legends, surrounded by a beautiful forest with diverse flora and fauna. Others see something else.
Many will only see a forest that is lying idle, its treasures yet to be unearthed. They probably think that the area is far from human habitation, so why should anyone care, if a few holes were dug to extract the minerals and a few trees are lobbed down, to clear the annoying vegetation, so that workers could have easy access to extract the minerals.
So, in round two, enter the 'new' lineup for ABC Sdn Bhd. This is Malaysia, where clever loopholes are found to get around a minor problem such as a moratorium on mining or logging applications.
The solution will almost always involve any of the three "R"s, especially the third "R" - a member of royalty.
This time, ABC Sdn Bhd will have on its board of directors, the titled people whose names are enough to get immediate attention from the recalcitrant Land Office staff.
This time, the Pengarah who decides on the application has little choice but to agree to the request. The rules are bent. One eye is shut, perhaps both eyes are closed. It has happened numerous times before, not just in Pahang, but in other states including East Malaysia, where timber concessions and dodgy firms have been able to mine or log areas that are not supposed to be developed, for one reason or another.
How many times must we remind the Pahang government, and various companies, that Tasek Chini is home to the Jakun and Semai?
Don't we respect their land rights anymore? Over-development and land clearing have turned thousands of acres of virgin jungle, which is the natural habitat of the Orang Asli, into oil palm plantations and mines. There is also extensive illegal logging.
In 1995, the state unwisely built a weir along the Chini River and wrecked the fragile eco-system of the environmentally sensitive Tasek Chini. Chemicals used for logging and oil palm have polluted the river and lakes.
If the key individuals in the company and the government really want to prove their worth and make a difference, they should leave the area untouched, but start reparation works. Obviously, lessons from Lynas, bauxite mining and uncontrolled logging have not been learnt.
Granting the company, Hanishah Ventures, the mining concession just shows that the government has reneged on its earlier promise to rehabilitate Tasek Chini, and more importantly, is unwilling to properly safeguard the Orang Asli forest reserves, their traditions and culture.
The MB's promise to restore Tasek Chini, was just a janji Melayu. The Orang Asli already face intense pressure on their way of life. They are the natural guardians of the forest and their lives are more closely intertwined with the forests than our own. All the developers and the authorities do is rape the forests and leave them barren.
The remaining small pockets of land, which are termed protected forest spaces, mean that the Orang Asli and wildlife, have to fight for their existence and survival. The Orang Asli hunting grounds have been destroyed, their rivers polluted and their ancestral lands desecrated. With their drinking water contaminated by chemicals or silting, the survival of the indigenous people is at stake.
The companies which apply for concessions to mine or log, and the people who issue the permits, neither care nor realise the impact of tinkering with nature, environmental destruction, greenhouse gases and global warming.
Their activities boil down to greed and a lack of education.
In 2012, the former MB of Pahang, Adnan Yaakob, agreed that there was much development in this environmentally sensitive area but rejected the claim that Tasek Chini, which is a source of drinking water and protein (the fish) for the Orang Asli, was polluted.
It was alleged that Adnan scooped up the water from the lake in a glass, and said something along the lines of "See, the water is clear. There is no pollution."
If only a reporter, or a savvy observer accompanying him, had dared him to drink the water...
That is one of the problems with our society. Few dare to challenge the elite and the ignoramuses in government. These are the people whose responsibility is to protect the people and the environment, but they are the ones who play a major role in their destruction. - Mkini
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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