The Green Party has urged newly minted Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad to intervene in the issue of 27 quarries in the Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve in Gombak, Selangor.
The party's pro-tem secretary general Abdul Razak Ismail said although the issue is pending with the anti-corruption commission, it is a pressing environmental matter which needs the minister's attention.
"It is not only an environmental and climate change issue because the forest reserve is located just 15 to 20 kilometres from the city centre.
"The clearing and quarrying activities can be clearly seen from the PLUS and Guthrie Highways...
"Such prominent clearing of forest reserves reflects badly on the government's efforts to mitigate recent floods and landslides, related to climate change," he said in a statement.
Razak, who is also part of the activist group Otai Reformis 1998, had on Oct 22 lodged a report with the MACC over possible wrongdoing in the approval of 27 quarry plots in the reserve.
Urging MACC action, he said he received a reply via e-mail to say the investigation is underway but no updates since then.
"If the quarrying activity continues as planned, it would negatively impact the ecosystem and the habitat of species in the 887ha.
"We were also informed that only one company had submitted an environmental impact assessment report for its quarry while 26 are suspected to be without," he said in a statement.
Earlier, Malaysiakini reported that 27 quarries will take place in the reserve, with close to a third with political or royal links.
State executive councillor in charge of environment Hee Loy Sian said the quarrying licences were issued in accordance with due process and will not affect the Orang Asli community there.
However, a former director-general of the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) said the activities will harm the institute's plan to apply for Unesco World Heritage Site status for Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve and its surrounding areas. - Mkini
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