PETALING JAYA: Johor Menteri Besar Osman Sapian has been rapped for not being clear on whether Pulau Kukup in Pontian, Johor, has been re-gazetted.
An online petition on change.org said the menteri besar did not specifically state that the island would be re-gazetted under the National Parks (Johor) Corporation Enactment 1989 when he said today that Pulau Kukup would be preserved and maintained as a national park.
Osman had said during his winding up speech at the Johor state assembly that the matter would be discussed at the state executive council level.
He was reported as saying that the de-gazetting of Pulau Kukup as a national park was done by the former Barisan Nasional government in March 2018.
“There is a huge difference between perceived status and actual legal status. If it is not re-gazetted, the management authority will have no legal jurisdiction to enforce the law in the ‘national park’,” the petitioner who uses the name Boleophthalmus boddarti said in an update to the online petition urging royal intervention on the “revocation” of the island’s legal status.
Pulau Kukup, a Ramsar site located off the coast of Pontian in south Johor, came under the limelight after it was reported that the Johor government had revoked its status as a national park through a gazette in October.
On Thursday, however, the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, decreed that Pulau Kukup is to remain a national park after it becomes sultanate land, according to state secretary Jaba Mohd Noah.
In a letter addressed to the director of the Johor Land and Mines Office, Jaba said Pulau Kukup must be taken care of and monitored by the state government under the Johor Parks Corporation to become a tourism product of the state.
The 647ha area is the second largest uninhabited mangrove island in the world and is surrounded by 800ha of swampland.
Last week, veteran newsman A Kadir Jasin and lawyer group Lawyers for Liberty slammed the Johor government for revoking the status of Pulau Kukup as a national park.
Kadir said Osman must explain to the satisfaction of the people, who voted him in, on what transpired concerning Pulau Kukup.
“If Osman can’t explain to the satisfaction of the people who voted him and PH in seven months ago, then he should consider resigning,” he said in a blog post.
The Cabinet, meanwhile, is of the view that Pulau Kukup should retain its status as a national park so it “continues to be preserved as an internationally important area for the benefit of present and future generations”.
Its rare mangrove ecosystem, the only one in Johor waters, is said to be threatened by extinction.
“Changing the area’s status will surely affect its recognition as an area of international importance as well as undermine the country’s reputation in biodiversity conservation,” said Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Xavier Jayakumar.
Pulau Kukup has been identified as a stopover for migratory birds, breeding and protection area for threatened wildlife like storks, Chinese egrets and mangrove leeches as well as fisheries and aquaculture resources of the country, he said.
Osman said no development would be allowed to take place in Pulau Kukup as it is bound by the Sultanate (Lands) Enactment 1934. – FREE MALAYSIA TODAY
Don’t meddle with Pulau Kukup, TMJ tells ‘outsider’ Xavier
Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has criticised Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar for insisting that the status of Johor’s Pulau Kukup as a national park must be retained.
This was after the Johor government revealed that the previous government had degazetted Pulau Kukup as a national park and will classify it as sultanate land.
“I posted a letter from the Johor state government that was also signed by His Majesty that stated that it will fall under sultanate land, but it remains a national park.
“Its usage and protection does not change. What is it so hard to understand (sic)?” he said in a statement on Facebook today.
The move to degazette Pulau Kukup means that it loses its legal status as a national park. Its continued use as such will be at the pleasure of the Johor ruler who owns the sultanate land.
Xavier had issued the statement after the cabinet decided that Pulau Kukup should remain a national park.
However, Tunku Ismail said “outsiders” should not interfere in Johor’s affairs.
“First of all as an outsider, you don’t need to meddle on matters related to Johor,” he said.
“Secondly, no matter what statement or letter is issued, you have no jurisdiction to override the Johor state constitution.
“The only one who can change the constitution is the ruler. The letter Johor has issued is clear that Pulau Kukup will remain protected as a national park.”
Tunku Ismail also claimed that the Pulau Kukup issue was being turned into a “distraction.”
“Don’t use issues like this as a deception to divert attention because you are not performing. So that is why I have been saying from before, just focus on the progress of the nation.
“There is no need to be fighting here and there,” he said.
Pulau Kukup is one of the few remaining pristine wetlands in Southeast Asia and is one of five Ramsar sites in Malaysia.
Ramsar sites are wetland sites designated to be of international importance under the United Nations Convention on Wetlands.
Xavier said any change to Pulau Kukup’s status “could impact its recognition” as an internationally important site, and affect the country’s reputation in protecting biodiversity.
The Johor state assembly had also unanimously passed a motion calling for a review of the decision to degazette Pulau Kukup as a national park. – MKINI
FREE MALAYSIA TODAY / MKINI
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