ECRL goes against Selangor decision to protect forests - Green Party

 

The construction of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) at the Selangor State Park is against decisions made by the Selangor legislative assembly, said Green Party secretary-general Abdul Razak Ismail.

This comes after ECRL project owner, Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL), said land clearing to facilitate the Selangor section of the project does not involve the degazetting of forest reserves.

MRL said the firm had obtained a permit izin lalu (right-of-way permit) from the Forestry Department so that its contractors can enter the forest reserve to carry out licensed activities related to the project.

In response, Razak said MRL overlooked two important decisions made by the Selangor state legislative assembly on the conservation of forest reserves in the state.

“In 2010, the Selangor state government imposed a 25-year moratorium on logging in forest reserves.

“Secondly, the state legislative assembly in 2020 passed a motion urging the state government to protect and preserve gazetted forest reserves,” he said.

Razak said the permit issued by the Selangor State Forestry Department, allowing contractors to enter the forest reserve and carry out forest clearing work, is contradictory to the spirit of both the decisions of the legislative assembly.

“We consider the action to be insulting to the state assembly.

“The state government’s approval for the construction of the ECRL track through the state forest park, Hulu Gombak forest reserve, and Serendah forest reserve should be tabled in the state assembly because it is against the motion to preserve forest reserves in the state.”

Don’t be ‘cowards’

He also said the state government made a mistake when the state executive council, on Nov 24, 2021, agreed to change the ECRL’s alignment from its original one which covered Bentong-Gombak-Serendah-Port Klang without informing the state assembly.

“The new alignment has entered deep into the Hulu Gombak forest reserve and the Serendah forest reserve.”

Therefore, he called on the state assemblypersons who unanimously approved the motion to preserve forest reserves back in 2020 to not be “cowards’, and instead voice their dissatisfaction with the state government for approving the ECRL project.

Last Friday, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said the project’s developer, China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), was responsible for land clearing reported to have taken place inside the state park.


According to a report by the Malay Mail, Amirudin said the Chinese construction company had obtained the permit to clear land earmarked for a 2.3km road to be built for “entry facilities” but had begun construction “without approval”.


In response, Selangor executive councillor Hee Loy Sian defended the construction of the ECRL saying that the project in the state park has always been controlled to comply with the rules and conditions that are in place.

Hee also explained that project owner MRL had obtained approval for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report for Section C2 (Gombak-Serendah-Port Klang) on Nov 30, 2021.

Previously, environmental watchdog Rimba Disclosure Project pointed the finger at CCCC’s activities in the protected Selangor State Park, saying that it found - through satellite imagery - questionable activities that looked like land clearing.


It then conducted a field probe around the locations and found notices of construction had been erected, indicating that roads were being built for the Gombak-Port Klang section of the ECRL.


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Get EIA report approved first

Meanwhile, the Green Party said it was saddened by the attitude of the federal government in allowing the clearing of parts of the Hulu Gombak forest reserve and Serendah forest reserve for the ECRL railway route without first getting the EIA report approved by the Department of Environment (DOE).


“The report we received from the Rimba Disclosure Project (RDP) based on the satellite image clearly shows at least four locations in the two forest reserves have been cleared recently.


“A review of the DOE website portal shows that the project owner, Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd, has not submitted an EIA report to the DOE,” said Razak.

He said the Green Party was aware that the clearing was an “emergency route” of the federal government project as stated on the project signboard, but it should be in full compliance with the laws such as obtaining the EIA approval before the project is implemented. - Mkini