The Shah Alam Community Forest Society (SACFS) and Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam (Peka) had obtained the stay order in their ongoing judicial review in relation to the degazettement and development of 406ha of the reserve land.
The stay order was issued by Shah Alam High Court judge Shahnaz Sulaiman on Aug 11 against the state government, its executive committee (exco) and directors of the state forestry, and land and mines departments.
It called for a halt to all forms of enforcement and actions arising from the exco’s decision on May 5 to degazette the affected land, roughly the size of 1,000 football fields, pending the disposal of the suit.
In an affidavit filed on behalf of the NGOs, Peka president Damien Thaman Divean claimed that the stay order was served on the developer, YCH Development Sdn Bhd, on Sept 2.
That was after YCH had successfully secured a court order allowing it to intervene in the judicial review proceedings on the grounds that it would be affected by the outcome of the case.
“However, YCH through its solicitors responded via a letter dated Sept 9 stating that the works … would carry on as usual,” Damien said in his affidavit.
YCH’s solicitors had written to inform the court that the environment department had, on Sept 6, issued a field citation requiring certain supervisory and maintenance work to be carried out on the land, and seeking further directions from the judge as a result.
SACFS and Peka had applied to the High Court in August for leave to commence judicial review proceedings in a bid to protect the forest reserve from being degazetted and levelled for development.
They claimed that the state government’s attempt to belatedly degazette the protected land was “procedurally improper and illegal”, and that the degazettement decision was made 22 years ago and was, therefore, “stale”.
Damien said the state was acting beyond its powers, and claimed that it had attempted to circumvent the law which required a public inquiry to be held prior to degazettement.
According to him, the land had been alienated and development had commenced on portions of it. He said one of the entities which the land was alienated to was Restu Mantap Sdn Bhd.
In its affidavit for leave to intervene in the judicial proceedings, YCH director Yap Cheng Hoe claimed that the company had spent some RM20 million in costs and expenses to date.
He said YCH had entered into a joint venture agreement with Restu Mantap to develop the land.
Pursuant to the joint venture, he said, the company had paid RM8.6 million in land premium to the state’s land office, of which RM1 million was paid in February 2004 and the rest between February and March 2019.
Another RM11.2 million had been spent on land development, Yap said.