Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve to be re-gazetted, says Selangor MB

SHAH ALAM: Environmentalists will probably heave a sigh of relief that the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve (KLNFR) is about to be re-gazetted soon.

Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said the decision was made in the last executive council meeting to expedite the re-gazettement of the KLNFR.

Amirudin added the Selangor Land and Mines Department and the state Forestry Department have been directed to carry out the re-gazettement as soon as possible.

“We decided on the re-gazettement to prevent our state from facing climate and weather-related obstacles,’’ said Amirudin at a Ramadan event at the state secretariat’s Dewan Jubli Perak.

Earlier in his speech, Amirudin said global climate change resulted in flooding incidents and one of the ways to counter this was to take care of the environment.

“Early this year, I said, after facing serious floods (in December last year) that we have to be prepared as maybe this is something that will not just occur once in 100 years, but more regularly, like even three years once,’’ he added.

Given this, the Mentri Besar said it was crucial to protect the environment.

The re-gazettement will cover an area of 486.07ha of the forest reserve.

Amirudin had told a press conference late last month that that the re-gazettement is scheduled before Hari Raya Aidilfitri, which falls on either May 2 or May 3.

He added that out of the total area that initially came under de-gazettement, 97% will be re-gazetted as forest reserve while the remaining 3% will be allocated for Orang Asli villages.

The Selangor state government came under fire after it de-gazetted some 536.7ha of the KLNFR out of a total of 991.9ha for a mixed development project last May.

Due to the outcry, Amirudin announced last September that the state would reverse the de-gazettement order on the KLNFR.

Recently, a group of 16 non-governmental organisations including Centre for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC), Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) and Greenpeace Malaysia had issued a joint statement urging Amirudin to fulfil his promise of re-gazetting the land.