Kluang District Officer Jamaludin A Hamid has ordered the operator of the durian project on Gunung Lambak in Kluang, Johor to stop site clearing - and work on land restoration within three months.
Jamaludin also said the company, Steadfast Properties Sdn Bhd, has to submit an environmental impact assessment (EIA) since the durian planting project is located on a sloped area.
This came after the durian project drew backlash among local residents as they were worried about potential landslides and floods.
Jamaludin told Malaysiakini the company needs to comply with laws and guidelines from different departments including the Environmental, Agriculture, as well as Irrigation and Drainage Departments.
“Although the project is being done on less than 100 hectares, the slope area is more than 50 percent (of the project), so they have to submit an EIA report.
“We have installed barriers at the entrance of the project and issued notices to stop them from working,” he said.
According to Jamaludin, the company did not submit an application to the Agriculture Department before starting work.
“The Agriculture Department has its guidelines for large-scale durian planting.
“Although the project is located on private agricultural land, it is still bound by the laws of various departments.
“For example, we cannot build our houses arbitrarily despite the fact that we own the land. There are still regulations for building houses, drainage, and so on,” he said.
Restore land before monsoon
The officer added he was uncertain when would Steadfast Properties be allowed to work on their project again since they have to submit a plan first for all the departments to review.
According to Berita Harian, Jamaludin also asked the company to restore the land immediately, including planting earth cover plants to ensure the land does not turn into mud when it rains.
He also said the land restoration works should be done within three months to avoid untoward incidents when the monsoon season starts in November.
Malaysiakini yesterday reported that the 92 acres with 17 plots of land were bought by Steadfast Properties last year.
The land has been private agricultural land since 1944, although they are adjacent to the Rengam Forest Reserve.
One of the shareholders of Steadfast Properties told Malaysiakini that two retention ponds will be built for the durian planting project as a safety measure, among others.
He claimed that private agricultural projects were never required to submit an EIA report or application to the local council’s "one-stop centre" (OSC) by convention, but his company is willing to give full cooperation to the Kluang Municipal Council’s requests.
Meanwhile, Kluang MP Wong Shu Qi also suggested the local government allow the company to go back to the land and plant some vegetation to cover the bare earth, despite the stop work order.
She agreed the short-term solution is important to prevent landslides since the monsoon season will arrive at the end of the year.
“We cannot wait until all the applications and EIA report are approved (to plant vegetation to cover the bare earth),” added Wong.
Mengkibol state assemblyperson Chew Chong Sin proposed the state government do a land swap with Steadfast Properties, and gazette land which is located 100m above sea level as a buffer zone to the Rengam Forest Reserve.
He believed this could safeguard the ecosystem and environment around Gunung Lambak.
In a state assembly written reply to Chew dated June 23, Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi did not mention if the land swap was feasible but stated the difficulties in its implementation.
Among them is that the state government has to bear the land acquisition and compensation cost, and find land that the company would agree to exchange. - Mkini
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