Green Party Wants Selangor Govt To Explain How Far Ecrl Will Enter Forest Reserves

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Green Party wants the Selangor state government to explain how far the planned East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) will enter into the Hulu Gombak and Serendah forest reserves.
In a statement, Green Party secretary-general Abdul Razak Ismail said he had submitted a request through the Freedom of Information Enactment (Selangor) 2011 to the corporate division of the state government’s secretary office in Shah Alam earlier today.
Previously, Abdul Razak criticised the construction of the ECRL at the Selangor State Park, claiming that it was against decisions made by the Selangor legislative assembly on the conservation of forest reserves in the state.
The decisions, he said, were a 25-year moratorium on logging in forest reserves issued in 2010, and the motion urging the state government to protect and preserve gazetted forest reserves that were passed in 2020.
He added that 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.
Green Party secretary-general Abdul Razak Ismail submitting the requestECRL project owner, Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL), previously 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.
It added that the project does not involve degazetting the forest reserves.
‘CCCC was responsible’
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 ECRL construction, 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.
Abdul Razak said the Green Party had instructed its lawyers Raj & Sach to write to the Selangor Forestry Department requesting an explanation for issuing a right-of-way permit allowing CCCC to enter the forest area. - Mkini

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