The destruction of the surrounding areas around Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam Agricultural Park in Shah Alam would not have occurred if the government had been proactive in approving large tracts of land for development.

De-gazetting forest reserve areas for timber concessionaires by the powers-that-be has been a perennial problem since Independence. It was done for politicians and their lackeys to become rich quickly and the rot has not stopped even until now.

This sad affair had caused untold damage to our flora and fauna and the natural environment in general. Once land had been cleared for development, the greenery will be lost forever to our younger generations.

But still, timber concessions are given out freely and large tracts of land are given to developers to develop concrete jungles instead of preserving natural forests which are a natural barrier to stop flooding and to lower the temperatures of the surrounding areas.

It is therefore very important to preserve our forests from excessive logging and development and if we continue damaging our environment, we shouldn't be surprised if other bigger natural disasters occur due to our folly in not protecting Mother Nature

It would be interesting if the government can publish the list of the developers who ware given development projects at Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam and the names of the politcal masters who approved the said projects. Heaven knows how many people are laughing all the way to the bank.

In the name of transparency and good cooperate governance, it would be good to if the Selangor menteri besar does not remain silent and but comes clean to clear up this mess. Silence is not golden in this matter and hopefully the Anti-Corruption Agency can get their boys to look into the minutes of the Selangor exco meeting to find out whether abuse of power had occurred.

Everyone should take heed of our prime minister's call to protect our environment from excessive development. Developers should not think of quick profits and only give lip service to protecting the environment.