PSM wants end to Perak MB's 'absolute power' in approving logging

Summary

• PSM’s Ayer Kuning by-election candidate calls for a limit to the Perak menteri besar’s powers in issuing logging permits.

• Bawani KS says an independent oversight committee should be formed to ensure transparent and proper proceedings.

• The suggestion comes amid growing concern over a plantation project in the Kledang Saiong forest reserve.

AYER KUNING POLLS | The Perak menteri besar should not hold “absolute power” over the issuance of logging permits, said PSM’s candidate for the Ayer Kuning by-election.

Bawani KS argued for the decentralisation of the menteri besar’s authority on the matter amid rising concerns regarding a now-approved plantation project in the state’s Kledang Saiong forest reserve.

“Currently, the menteri besar makes decisions (on logging permits) with one state executive councillor member of his choice and the Forestry Department’s director, who is also determined by the menteri besar.

“Too much power is centralised in the menteri besar’s hands,” Bawani (above) told a press conference at PSM’s operations centre in Ayer Kuning today.

Mooting the establishment of a state-level independent oversight committee, she said the Perak sultan could appoint committee members based on advice from a panel.

The panel, she said, should consist of a retired judge, an assemblyperson from the government and opposition, as well as representatives from the Perak Bar Council and two environmental NGOs.

She stressed that all members of the panel and committee should be Perak residents as land and forest matters fall under the state’s jurisdiction.

“All decisions regarding logging permits must receive the committee’s approval.

“If the committee is uncomfortable with a permit being issued, the matter should be debated and resolved by the state legislative assembly,” she added.

Bawani asserted that such an initiative would reduce the risk of “under-the-table payments” and the issuance of logging permits in the vicinity of Orang Asli villages.

She also called on the state government to require all logging companies to contribute one percent of their gross revenue from timber sales to a compensation fund, which will be used to aid victims impacted by floods or human-wildlife conflicts.

In February 2023, Perak Menteri Besar Saarani Mohamad said the state’s ruler Sultan Nazrin Shah had been briefed on the Kledang Saiong project, assuring that it did not violate any regulations.

Eight NGOs had earlier submitted a memorandum to the Perak sultan’s office to request the ruler to intervene in the proposed 4,280ha monoculture farming project.

The NGOs also requested that Sultan Nazrin instruct state authorities to comply with the December 2021 decision by the National Land Council to impose a 15-year moratorium on approvals for new forest plantations in permanent forest reserves in the peninsula.

‘Dishonest’ EIA report

Reiterating similar sentiments, PSM coordinator Rani Rasiah cautioned that besides potential effects on the surrounding Orang Asli communities, Malay villagers in the area might also be in danger if the project is allowed to proceed.

Noting that logging activities might cause extensive flooding to Malay villages located just 5km from the project site, she added that various species of flora and fauna there could also be irreparably damaged by any clearing works.

“The EIA (environmental impact assessment) report (on the project) is very dishonest as it claims that the project area is in a ‘depleted forest’ zone,” she said during today’s press conference.

“Yes, certain areas have been subjected to logging works, but the area is far from severely depleted, as evidenced by the many animals and plants growing there.”

The Green Party previously urged the Natural Resources, Environment, and Climate Change Ministry to reject the project’s EIA, which is understood to have been approved last year.

The EIA report, sighted by Malaysiakini in 2023, stated that the project aims to plant forest products in the form of timber - with eucalyptus, khaya, and kelampayan being its top choices.

The project, spanning an area the size of 5,994 football fields in Kledang Saiong, involves the conversion of the area into a timber plantation, with operations said to last for 50 years.

Ayer Kuning voters are set to head to the polls on April 26, with Bawani part of a three-cornered battle for the Perak state seat under the Tapah parliamentary constituency.

The PSM deputy secretary-general will be going against Tapah Umno secretary Yusri Bakir and Tapah Perikatan Nasional chief Abd Muhaimin Malek.

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