BUT WHY SHOULD OWNERSHIP OF PULAU KUKUP BE TRANSFERRED TO THE SULTAN? SURELY, STATE GOVT CAN TAKE CARE OF IT JUST AS WELL ‘UNDER THE WATCHFUL EYES OF THE PEOPLE’: JOHOR MB’S SLEIGHT OF HAND RESPONSE UNLIKELY TO SATISFY CRITICS

Pulau Kukup in Pontian will remain a national park, Johor Menteri Besar Osman Sapian has stated today.

“Upon discussion, His Highness Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar is agreeable that Pulau Kukup retains its use as a Johor national park, and be minded and guarded by the state government under the Johor National Parks Corporation,” he said.

Many quarters had protested when news came to light that the island, one of five sites in Malaysia recognised by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, had been de-gazetted as a national park.

It was revealed that the decision to do so was made by the previous BN administration in March and that the land was instead to be registered under Sultan Ibrahim.

“In short, when a land status is modified as Sultanate land, it is bound by the Sultanate (Lands) Enactment 1934, which means that no development can take place there.

“However, the explanation on the de-gazetting of Pulau Kukup’s status (as a national park), which had been recognised as a wetland island, is still unable to assuage the concerns of the rakyat.

“Hence, as a state government that is watchful of the people, I will ensure Pulau Kukup remains a national park,” he said in his winding-up speech on the state budget at the Johor State Legislative Assembly today.

MKINI