Sahabat Alam Malaysia is repeating its call for the proposed orchard development in Kledang Saiong Forest Reserve near Chemor, Perak to be halted, and the area re-gazetted as forest reserve land.

It calls into question the validity of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report for the proposed orchard development at Perak Hi-Tech in Lot PT 253408 and 253409, which was approved by the Department of Environment (DoE) on June 21, 2009.

"Based on the DoE’s stipulation, the validity of an EIA report is only two years from the date the letter of approval is issued," said SAM president Meenakshi Raman in a statement today.

According to Meenakshi (below), at present, the activity in the project area is "logging for the purpose of converting the forest to other land use" covering 151.49 hectares of land from Nov 1, 2019 to Jan 30, 2020.

"This activity is subject to the requirement of an EIA report as stipulated in the First Schedule of the Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (Environmental Impact Assessment) Order 2015 and Section 34A of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127).

"According to the Ipoh District Local Plan 2020, the zoning of this project area is forest zone.

"The land owner may not convert the forest zone to agriculture zone unless a zone alteration, revocation or replacement has been carried out in the local plan in accordance with subsection 16 (1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 (Act 172)," she added.

SAM called on Perak Chief Minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu as the exco in charge of the land and forest portfolio, the State Forestry Committee chairperson and the PKNP chairperson to re-gazette the area as a Permanent Reserved Forest to show the state government's commitment to conserve and protect the environment.

SAM's call comes in the wake of a statement yesterday by the Perak State Development Corporation (PKNP) which said that the clearing of the land was for the development of orchards and not for logging activities.

PKNP said the joint venture project with Insan Permata Sdn Bhd, involved the clearing of the land carried out under the agriculture category to prevent landslides which could affect the eco-system in the area under the condition stipulated in the Environment Management Plan (EMP).

PKNP also said the status of the land was that it was no longer part of the protected Kledang Saiong Forest Reserve area.

PKNP also said it was confident that the planning and implementation of the project will give a positive impact towards the sustainability of the eco-system in the surrounding areas.