Shah Alam Community Forest Association representative Teckwyn Lim said this was because of an apparent discrepancy in the statement issued by state executive councillor for environment Hee Loy Sian on the status of the forest reserve.
“In a public hearing session last April, YB Hee admitted and agreed that there had been a misunderstanding over the status of the Bukit Cherakah forest reserve, namely that there was no proper gazetting of it, and promised to review and reinvestigate its actual status.
“However, until now, we have not received any feedback on the review and status of the reserve,” he told the media before handing over a memorandum to a representative of the tourism and environment office in front of the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Building.
The memorandum called for an immediate meeting between Hee and environmental NGOs involved to determine the true status of the forest reserve.
It is understood that Hee could not meet the environmental activists because he is in the UK for work.
Lim stressed that Hee had repeatedly claimed that the forest had been degazetted through Gazette Notification 1443 and that its permanent forest reserve status had been withdrawn by the state government to develop, among others, Bandar Puncak Alam, Alam Budiman and UiTM Puncak Alam.
However, he said, a check with the authorities found that Gazette Notification 1443 published in 2006 did not mention the forest at all.
“In the Selangor State Forestry Enactment 1985, the degazettement of forest reserves must be published and completed through a notification process in the Selangor state government gazette.
“However, we found that 2,883 notices that had been issued did not mention the forest,” he said.
He said his association had also referred the matter to lawyers and the Malaysian Bar Council, who confirmed that the Bukit Cherakah forest reserve and Shah Alam Community Forest (SACF) still had their forest reserve status.
“Legally, the land within the SACF area cannot be used for development.
“Any land ownership rights that have been issued in the SACF area are also invalid based on the provisions of the National Land Code 1962. The Petaling District Land Office must respect this law,” Lim said.
On Sept 24, Hee explained that the development project near SACF was outside the forest reserve.
He said in 1909, a total of 9,642 hectares in the Bukit Cherakah forest reserve was gazetted as a permanent forest, but had undergone several degazettements since 1976 for the purpose of development.
Currently, 1,298.86 hectares is maintained as a permanent forest reserve and is managed by the Selangor forestry department under the protected forest classification.