LETTER | The Association for Welfare Community and Dialogue (Acid) urges all the state representatives of Perak to take heed of the petition signed by more than 5,000 concerned citizens who are against turning the Kledang Saiong forest into a timber-producing factory. The petition was signed through change.org.

The project, which has already been awarded and currently awaiting Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval involves the clear-felling of the existing forest of 4,280 hectares (the size of about 6,000 football fields) with a complete clearing of all vegetation for the development and operation of the forest plantation for 50 years.

The factual reality in the country in regard to floods in Johor and the East Coast states of Kelantan, Terengganu and parts of Perak and the landslide in Batang Kali, Selangor, should compel people representatives to properly scrutinise our environmental landscape in regard to hilltop projects and create the necessary safeguards to not only our current generation but the future generations.

Merely turning the responsibility to the Department of Environment (DOE) for the EIA approval is irresponsible and goes against the wholeness aspect of sustainable development.

While the term sustainable development is usually propagated by political authorities to satisfy global trends, it is a pity that state assemblies like Perak do not debate and come to a proper understanding of what constitutes sustainable development.

We are still far away from the nitty-gritty aspects of sustainable development that start from protecting our basic natural resources, such forests, which are made up of medicinal biodiversity that have links to public health and an eco-system of life that protects the habitat, which sustains the planet Earth and the protective elements of forests that contribute to preserving soil and containing water that mitigates the impact that comes with a heavy downpour of rain that results in floods.

Currently, there is a slogan to make Ipoh a green city, but there is a lack of understanding that unless there is a wholeness approach to building the necessary foundation by interlinking various aspects of climate issues and portraying a unitive approach to protecting the environment, we will only end up with deceptive slogans.

It is hoped that all the assemblypersons of Perak will persuade the Perak government to do away with the project of turning Kledang Siong into a commercial enterprise zone, with a 50-year duration for commercial elites to meddle with the eco-system.

These moves will put our current and future generations at risk of climate disasters.

Let us start building a whole of society approach to the environment by saying ‘no’ to the deforestation of Kledang Saiong.

All the assemblypersons in Perak should take responsibility to persuade the Perak government to do away with this project by making it an important agenda in the state assembly sitting.

RONALD BENJAMIN is Secretary of the Association for Welfare, Community and Dialogue.

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