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KUANTAN: The Selangor government was urged to preserve the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve to ensure the environmental sustainability of the developed state, said Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.
He said that the status of a forest reserve should be preserved, since this forest served as a flora and fauna conservation area, as well as a water catchment area.
“The areas that have been cataloged (as forest reserves) should remain as such even if a state government wants to take advantage of them to satisfy economic needs. We cannot avoid development, but future implications must be a priority, ”he said.
Tuan Ibrahim spoke after launching the Department of Drainage and Irrigation’s 2020 Innovation Day celebration, which was also attended by its CEO Nor Hisham Mohd Ghazali and State Director Mohd Noor Bidi.
It was responding to the Selangor government’s action to hold a public hearing last Tuesday for the proposed abolition of the North Kuala Langat Forest Reserve, Tanjung Dua Belas Sub-district, Kuala Langat, which involves an area of approximately 1,971ha, to the one that many parties opposed.
In another development, Tuan Ibrahim is optimistic that river conservation projects to reduce flood risks across the country with the additional allocation of RM 66 million can be completed before the monsoon season begins later this year. .
He said a project had started in Kelantan last Sunday and was expected to be finished in a month.
Meanwhile, Hisham said that several flood mitigation projects (RTB) had stalled due to the implementation of the motion control order (MCO), but contractors have now received a three-month extension.
“Although construction work may resume now, we hope that the current Covid-19 outbreak will not be worse so that these projects can continue to completion.
“At Pahang, Cameron Highlands RTB was completed in September, while two more projects at Sungai Belat in Kuantan and Bandar Pekan are expected to be completed next year,” he added.
