There are no official records to substantiate Malacca Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam's claim that the Bukit Beruang forest reserve was officially de-gazetted for development, said DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng today.

Determined to prove that something is amiss, he had poured through the Malacca state's gazettes (government documents to officiate plans and policies).

"I went through over 48 volumes of the state's 2004 gazettes. I did not find anything stated on the Bukit Beruang reserve.

"However, I did stumble upon something more startling. Another forest reserve, Sungei Udang, was de-gazetted," he said when contacted.

Mohd Ali Rustam announced last week that he was aware of the de-forestation in Bukit Beruang and that 41ha of the 164ha green-lung had been officially de-gazetted as a forest sanctuary last year.

The tree-felling in the last remaining forest reserve in central Malacca was first brought to light when Lim discovered logging activities in the area after receiving numerous public complaints.

Following that, the Malacca CM subsequently admitted knowledge of the destruction and declared that the reserve had been de-gazetted, to accommodate a theme park cum international youth village cum eco-housing project, claiming that was what the city folk had apparently wanted.

What master plan?

Meanwhile, Lim said he discovered a document showing that 26.3ha of the Sungei Udang forest reserve in Alor Gajah - gazetted in 1987 as a safety and recreation forest - was de-gazetted last December.

Questioned on this by the media over the weekend, the CM said this was done to accommodate a development project that was part of a state development "master-plan" dating back to the 1980s.

Responding today, Lim said: "The CM must reveal what the master-plan is. Why is he refusing to spell-out the details? What type of development are we talking about? Will it benefit one person or the community as a whole?"

He asked if such de-gazetting and projects were in-tandem with the state's promise to safeguard the environment and if it did not contradict federal government policies.

"Why does it have to be a case where the DAP must dig up such issues and only then the CM admits to it. How many more projects are out there that have been undertaken without the knowledge of the people?" he added.

Lim has submitted a memo to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on the forestry issues in the state and the CM's lack of transparency in pubic affairs.

The DAP leader also expressed concerned that the vanishing of the state's 5,462ha of forest reserves is "clearly leading to surreptitious development".

Apart from the Sungei Udang and Bukit Beruang forest reserves, Malacca's other reserves are located in Bukit Sedanan, Bukit Senggeh, Batang Melaka, Merlimau, Linggi and Cape Rachado.

The CM could not be reached for comment.