Environmental group calls for approval of road in Pahang to be revoked

 

RimbaWatch said there is no way the proposed road can be built without causing deforestation and harm to wildlife. (File pic)

PETALING JAYA: An NGO has called for the environment department to immediately revoke the approval of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the construction of a road that will purportedly pass through a tiger conservation park in Pahang.

RimbaWatch said the proposed road cannot be built without deforestation, affecting wildlife and exposing endangered species to harm and poaching.

In a statement, it claimed that it sighted an “accurate map” of the proposed alignment of the Pasir Raja-Mat Daling road project, which it said would “dissect” the forests of Eastern Pahang and separate the forests of Taman Negara in the north to the forests of Ulu Tembeling in the south.

The forests of Taman Negara and Ulu Tembeling are said to be one of the largest contiguous forest areas in the country.

“We have been able to confirm that the majority of the road’s proposed 52km alignment will pass directly through the Diraja Al-Sultan Abdullah tiger reserve.

“In order to protect Malaysia’s remaining 100 tigers, the ecological integrity of this park is key,” RimbaWatch said.

It claimed that the EIA report for the proposed road was approved in 2022 yet the contents of the report were never made public.

RimbaWatch urged the environment department to release the contents of the report and to provide its commitment to rejecting future EIAs that involve deforestation and degradation of protected forest areas. - FMT