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They also said the venue where the town hall is to be held discourages Orang Asli from attending.
The Coalition for the Protection of Selangor’s Forests said to degazette a forest reserve in Selangor, an objection process must be preceded by a formal inquiry process, under the National Forestry Act 1984 and Public Inquiry (Selangor) Rules 2014, to view and consider all the stakeholders’ opinion.
“Members only began receiving the invitation letters to a town hall session by Selangor State Forestry Department (SSFD) on Sept 23.
“Some have not received their invitation letters,” it said in a statement, adding that the public hearing (town hall) session was planned for 8am on Sept 29, in Pulau Carey.
It will be chaired by Selangor Environment, Green Technology and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Hee Loy Sian.
Global Environment Centre (GEC) director Faizal Parish said the invite only gave a few days to prepare for the town hall session.
“The Orang Asli communities have yet to receive the letter of invitation when they should have been alerted much earlier.
“On top of the short notice, the venue is located outside of the subdistrict Mukim Tanjung 12, which is about one hour away from the forest reserve, with very limited transportation options,” said Faizal.
He said it defeats the purpose of organising a public hearing and restrains the affected community, particularly the local Orang Asli Temuan communities, to attend the town hall process.
Leela Panikkar, of Treat Every Environment Special (TrEES), said the coalition had collected and submitted 43,502 written objections to push back the date to allow them time to prepare the meeting, further urging the state government to change the venue for the Orang Asli communities, stakeholders and the coalition members to attend.
The degazettement involves 931ha of the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve. The Orang Asli communities from four villagers adjacent to the forest reserve have also submitted their objections to the proposed degazettement.
The coalition also said the forest reserve is of national interest. Besides being environmentally sensitive, the forest reserve is also home to the life and culture of the Temuan Orang Asli communities who have lived in the area for hundreds of years, with the earliest photographic documentation found in 1886.
It said the degazettement of the land is robbing their rights to use the forest, incorporated into the Gazettement Notice for the forest reserve in 1927.
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