Selangor government would have opened itself to lawsuits if it did not go ahead with the degazetttement order of the 406.2ha of Bukit Cerakah Forest Reserve (BCFR).
Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said the private companies that were given the green light to carry out development projects in the area could have sued the state for loss of business.
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“The degazettement took place a long time ago before the current state government took over in 2008, and this had been clarified repeatedly.
“If the current state government had not published the degazettement, we would have been faced with legal action by the companies, as a result of a decision that was made by the state executive council in 2000.
“Consider this like a marriage that took place but the marriage certificate was issued three years later.
“The marriage still took place,” he told reporters after attending the Yayasan Selangor Education Synergy programme 2022 at the state secretariat building in Shah Alam.
Amirudin was asked to comment on the controversial forest reserve degazettement involving the state government “excising” a big chunk of BCFR on May 5 this year.
He was also asked if the state would investigate procedures on how the land titles were given to the private companies.
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“We can investigate but as far as we know, they were done according to the process approved by the state executive council, including approval for the four companies.
“If we had not announced the degazettement, the companies could not have continued with the development as the land titles could not have been issued.
“Even if we had delayed it, they would have sued us.
“As a responsible government, we are not going to spend millions on lawsuits,” he said.
The Otai Reformist 1998 group’s secretary Abdul Razak Ismail said Selangor should not continue with the previous state government’s agenda, not to mention the decision of the state executive council made 22 years ago.
In July, it was reported that Shah Alam Community Forest Society (SACFS) had questioned Selangor government’s move to degazette 406.2ha of the BCFR without the full procedure.
SACFS honorary treasurer Dr Teckwyn Lim had said that the degazettement contravened Selangor forestry laws, which stated that a public hearing must precede a degazettement.
