YOURSAY | Kuala Langat forest de-gazettement: Who’s to blame?

YOURSAY | ‘Harapan is losing credibility and votes over this.’

Selangor quietly excises half of Kuala Langat forest reserve

S'gor MB to meet PKR leaders over forest reserve de-gazettement – Anwar

Proarte: The exco members who betrayed the rakyat and their fellow assemblypersons by reneging on the unanimous decision in the Selangor state legislative assembly to protect forest reserves in Selangor should be named and shamed.

They have been downright deceitful and do not deserve to be the people's representatives.

The mind boggles how these charlatans can shout "reformasi" yet behave like Perikatan Nasional. At least PN/BN are more honest because they openly do not practise good governance.

The Selangor exco who approved the de-gazettement should not be given the opportunity to be a state assemblyperson in the next election.

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim's credibility is also at stake. This latest scandal is a glaring example of his poor leadership.

Are we surprised that 'plundering' is taking place at his very doorstep when Anwar can seek support from the likes of Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and other Umno MPs to become prime minister?

Anwar has no choice but to demand that the de-gazettement be annulled. There must be no compromise on this serious issue because it is a reflection of the integrity of the Pakatan Harapan state government.

How can the rakyat be expected to vote for Harapan when their state representatives are blatantly untrustworthy? How can they be expected to have faith in Anwar as a leader when he was apparently oblivious of Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari's decision to de-gazette the forest reserve?

Malaysia Bharu: The Selangor government has made two disturbing decisions in recent days.

First, the de-gazettement of the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve against all objections from PKR lawmakers, backbenchers, environment groups, and even that of the state assembly last year.

Second, granting approval in principle to the Kinrara-Petaling Jaya link highway that was originally Umno's brainchild. It was vehemently opposed by Kinrara and PJ residents and terminated by the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat government.

Anwar is wasting his time calling up Amirudin for an explanation when it is obvious that the MB has seen fit to secretly and unilaterally approve these projects against the better interest of the people.

Anyway, what good is the MB's explanation when the damage has been done? The only alternative is for the people of Selangor to reject the MB and assemblypersons involved in this scandal.

Annonymous: It’s simply shocking that the Harapan state government behaving similar to Umno by publicly declaring that they always listen to the people and honour the people's wishes by gazetting and protecting our valuable green lungs, but later quietly, yes very quietly, de-gazette the land. This is simply hideous and a betrayal of the worse kind.

The MACC should be called in to investigate this grabbing of prime forest reserve land that was gazetted and legally protected.

We are not surprised if DAP and Harapan lose more seats, or even lose Selangor, to Umno in the next election.

This is a classic case of harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi - an obvious betrayal and crime had been committed against the rakyat. Justice must be done. The MB and his minions must be sacked.

If the Harapan presidential council members are just lame ducks and refused to uphold their principle and act to protect the integrity of the Selangor's Harapan government, then they are not fit to govern the nation.

LimeGoose1712: Hee Loy Sian, the Selangor exco member in charge of tourism, environment, green technology, said that the state government had decided to gazette three other parcels of forests as a “replacement” for the excised portion of the Kuala Langat North forest reserve.

Hee, if the state government can ensure everything from the degazetted land are to be relocated to the newly gazetted land, including the landscape, the plants, the animals, the insects, the micro-organisms, the human beings, and to retain their relative positioning prior to the relocation, such that everything remains (at least) status quo except at a different geographical location, and that the entire ecosystem has zero negative impact, then I may accept the so-called "consultant's advice" that the "replacement forest reserve was almost the same" and I shall consider supporting their decision.

Hee said: “A private member’s motion guides us. It does not bind the executive council. The council can make its own decisions.”

Hee may be right but if that's his stand, I'd suggest him to go back and study the spirit of democracy, where the executives are bound to execute only in the interest of the general public. The moment the exco thinks it's above the people, the trial during the next election awaits you.

Apa Nama: Every state should have their own 'green lungs'. If a state is deprived of its 'lung', how on earth are we going to ‘breath’?

I am very sure there must a hidden hand behind this, whereby first the Selangor state assembly gazetted the forest reserve and later quietly de-gazetted it.

If they need to do it quietly, it means something is rotten in the state for Selangor.

Dr Raman Letchumanan: Indeed, something is really rotten in Harapan. How come, except for the Selangor exco, none of the other leaders knew about this? The decision was made long ago. Are the rest pretending they didn't know about it or are they playing good cop bad cop to hoodwink their supporters?

DAP’s Lim Guan Eng and his minions, especially Tony Pua, are teaching reforms to the PN/BN government, yet the leaders in Selangor are ripping off pristine forests and building highways over the rooftops in congested PJ.

Yet, nobody in Harapan knows what each other are doing. What do they discuss in the Harapan presidential council? Good thing they were kicked out in 22 months.

• After PKR meet, Selangor MB agrees to delay Kuala Langat degazettement

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