Selangor Urged To Provide Details On Plan To Degazette Portion Of Forest Reserve

The Selangor government has been urged to provide details on its plan to degazette a portion of the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve to make way for the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project.

According to Abdul Razak Ismail, Secretary of pro-Anwar Ibrahim group Otai Reformis, the state government should be clear on the route to be taken by the ECRL and its plans for the degazetted area in the event the rail project did not pass through the forest reserve, reported Free Malaysia Today (FMT).

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His statement comes after ECRL project owner Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) said that the rail line will not travel through Kuala Langat.

In a Malaysiakini report, MRL said the ECRL will revert to its original alignment where it will connect Gombak to Port Klang via Serendah within the north of Selangor, making it “irrelevant” to degazette a part of the forest reserve for the ECRL project.

Razak said they do not want to see any part of the forest to be degazetted and for the ECRL to pass through the forest since this will not only adversely affect the flora and fauna, but also damage their natural habitat.

He added that his group along with the other non-government organisations (NGOs) will protect the forest.

Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari announced last week that the state had reversed its decision in May to degazette 536.7ha of the forest reserve, following criticism from environment organisations and MPs.

However, he revealed that some areas of the forest would still be degazetted for the ECRL route, without offering details on the size of the area it intends to degazette.

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