PETALING JAYA: The Selangor government has been reminded not to make any prejudicial statements pending the Shah Alam High Court’s judicial review of the backdated degazettement of a piece of land in the Bukit Cherakah forest reserve.
On Aug 4, two environmental NGOs – the Shah Alam Community Forest Society (SACF) and Khazanah Alam Malaysia (Peka) – filed an application for judicial review of the Selangor government’s degazettement of the land, said to be the size of about 1,000 football fields.
In a joint statement today, the NGOs noted that Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari had said on Monday the state government will go ahead with the degazettement to avoid legal action by companies with interests in the land.
Reminding him that the judicial review is underway, the NGOs also called on the state government to “respect and honour” the court’s ruling, regardless of the legal ramifications, in the event it decides that the degazettement is unlawful and invalid.
“The Bukit Cherakah forest reserve is a national treasure and public wealth that must be protected at all cost as it can never be replaced once it is destroyed,” they said.
“It is time that the Selangor government catch up with the times and include forest protection and climate action as its fundamental mandate if it wants to continue enjoying the support of the Selangor people.
“It can start by taking due responsibility over the total protection of the Bukit Cherakah forest reserve, whatever the cost.”
In a Bernama report on Monday, Amirudin also said that a state subsidiary will be asked not to continue with its development project there, unless it involved public interest, such as the construction of roads or cemeteries.
The NGOs said that while they laud the government’s decision to cancel development in the areas held by state subsidiaries, they oppose any form of construction within the forest area, including roads or cemeteries.
“This forest provides far more valuable public amenity to the community in terms of ecological and recreational services than any road or cemetery ever can. It must be left wholly intact,” they said.
“Building roads or any infrastructure will fragment the already vulnerable forest and result in irreparable ecosystem damages which will adversely affect wildlife and hydrology in the area.”
They also urged the Selangor government to adopt the 4th National Physical Plan (NPP-4) approved last October, which states that all forests and wetlands outside protected areas cannot be developed for land development.
The two NGOs, represented by lawyers Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Singh Sohanpal, are challenging the legality of the degazettement of the land covering 406ha at the Bukit Cherakah forest reserve.
According to the application sighted by FMT, they said the decision to degazette the area was made 22 years ago and was therefore “stale”.
They argued that it was also illegal for the state government to “backdate” the gazette notification issued on May 5 this year by the Selangor forestry department to refer to the decision of the state executive council in 2000.
In their statement today, the NGOs said that as one of the few the remaining lowland rainforests in Selangor, the Bukit Cherakah forest reserve is still rich and biodiverse, boasting over 400 plant species and 200 wildlife species, including the endangered Malayan tapir, the Sunda slow loris and the Javan pangolin.
They also said the reserve has seven lakes, making it an important water catchment area to prevent floods in the surrounding townships.
The NGOs also noted the reserve has the largest network of hiking trails in urban Klang Valley, known as the Shah Alam community forest, frequented by thousands of visitors every week for health, recreational and educational purposes. - FMT
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