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GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government said today that it had released all of its water catchments in 2004, in response to a claim by Putrajaya that the state was the only state in the country that had not yet done so.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said Penang was the first to mark its water catchment forests, compared to other states on the peninsula, according to state laws.
He said that as of December 2, 2004, 6,288ha of forests had been officially declared, 70% of which were permanent forest reserves.
Chow said Putrajaya’s claims stemmed from a new requirement that states register water catchments under federal law, the National Forestry Act of 1984, as directed by the National Land Council in August 2019.
He said the state had worked on it since then, but it was delayed due to the pandemic. He said the Penang Forest Department expected to register the catchment areas under federal law by June 2021.
“On December 2 of this year, the state executive council approved 3,790ha of permanent forest reserves to be placed under the Law, which was 5% more than what we had already announced before.
“The recently approved published area was never published before, even under state law in 2004, so this is new. We are also proud to say that we have not cut down our forests since 1972, ”he said.
The issue was raised after Chow, who is also a Tanjong MP, asked the Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man about the status of 25,000 ha of “replacement water catchment forests” promised by Kedah to balance forests destined for logging.
Tuan Ibrahim, in response, said that Penang was the only state in the country that had not yet registered its water catchment forests, while Kedah had already registered 110,000ha of its forests.
On phasing out old Penang ferries, Chow said Putrajaya should consider buying newer versions of the old ferries, in addition to opting for water buses.
He said that if the federal government had the ability to buy new catamarans, it could also buy ones with the old ferry design, or replicas, to maintain the state’s heritage and tourism icon.
“It is worth buying new ferries. If you are going to spend RM30 million on catamarans, why not consider RM90 million to buy newer versions of the iconic ferries? I ask.
When asked about the news that the finance minister had said the old ferry service would be maintained, he said he was not aware.
Meanwhile, Chow said police would now allow trucks carrying agricultural and grocery products to enter the Paya Terubong / Relau Enhanced Motion Control Ordering Area, after residents complain that many stores sold out for many articles.
The two towns have been declared as red zone zones and the closure began on December 7. It is expected to end on December 20.
