Permit For Ecrl Land Clearing Against State Assembly S Decisions Says Group

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Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd says the land clearing for the ECRL project does not involve any degazettement of forest reserves. (Bernama pic)PETALING JAYA: An environmental group has claimed that a permit granted to Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) to encroach into Selangor’s forest reserves for the East Coast Railway Link (ECRL) project goes against two motions passed by the state assembly.
Green Party Malaysia (GPM) said MRL must bear in mind that matters concerning land, forestry and water resources fall under the jurisdiction of the state government and not the federal government.
“Thus, the right-of-way permit issued by the forestry department to allow contractors to enter the forest reserve areas for clearing goes against the spirit of the two enactments passed by the state assembly.
“GPM regards this action (by the department) as an ‘insult’ to the state assembly,” its pro tem secretary, Abdul Razak Ismail, said in a statement yesterday.
He claimed that MRL had “overlooked” a 25-year moratorium on logging passed by the state assembly in 2010 as well as a motion to safeguard Selangor’s forest reserves passed in 2020.
Razak asked for the state government’s approval to allow the ECRL track to be constructed encroaching the Gombak state park and Serendah forest reserve to be debated in the state assembly.
GPM also called for the assemblymen who had unanimously supported the motion to safeguard Selangor’s forest reserves to voice their dissatisfaction against the state government’s approval.
Yesterday, FMT reported that MRL said the land clearing for the ECRL project which recently drew scrutiny did not involve any degazettement of forest reserves, including those within the Selangor state park.
MRL, which is wholly owned by the finance ministry, said it had obtained a right-of-way permit from the forestry department for its contractors to enter the forest reserve to carry out “licensed activities” related to the project.
On Wednesday, forest monitoring watchdog Rimba Disclosure Project (RDP) said it had found “some odd activities going on inside the Selangor state park” based on its analysis of satellite imagery.
It said four suspicious clearings had occurred within or at the borders of the park, which was gazetted in 2007 and is the second largest totally protected area in peninsular Malaysia after Taman Negara.
Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari confirmed that CCC-ECRL was behind the land clearing, saying the company had obtained the permit to clear land but had begun construction “without approval”.
Amirudin did not say if the company had been penalised or directed to stop all construction work.
The ECRL alignment involving Selangor, namely Section C, is divided into Section C1 from Mentakab to Gombak and Section C2 from Gombak to Port Klang via Serendah.
Razak also said the state government had “erred” when it decided in 2021 to allow the changes in Section C to be done such that it encroached deep into the Gombak and Hulu Gombak forest reserves. - FMT

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