A task force comprising several Kota Damansara residents associations (RAs) are preparing to haul the state government to court if it fails to reinstate the 'unlawfully' de-gazetted portion of the Sungai Buloh Forest.

Leong Kam Heng, from one of the six RAs in the task force called Friends of Kota Damansara action committee, said tens of thousands of residents supported the campaign to save the forest reserve.

"We've sent at least two letters to the state government demanding for the de-gazetted area to be reinstated, but nothing has happened," he told malaysiakini in Kuala Lumpur today.

"Last August, the state government unilaterally de-gazetted the forest reserve without notifying the 100,000-strong residents in the Kota Damansara area," he said.

Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo signed the "revocation of reservation of land for public purpose" involving the 346.9 hectares, a notification of which was published in the state government gazette.

The document also noted that "no objection" was made to the proposal to revoke the reservation.

Describing it as a "blatant lie", Leong said the Selangor government must immediately explain how it de-gazetted the reserve without holding any public inquiry as required by law.

"It is highly unlikely that residents did not know about any public inquiry because we have been writing to the menteri besar since mid-2002 and were thus within easy reach.

"If no steps are taken to rectify the matter and comply with the legal requirements, we will have to take the state to court."

The Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee environmental law sub-committee is extending legal assistance to the Friends of Kota Damansara action committee.

Legal notice being drafted

Met today, Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) legal advisor Derek Fernandez said lawyers were drafting a legal notice demanding for the immediate restoration of the de-gazetted area.

"Otherwise, the state will face the music for infringing prevailing state and federal land-related laws and policies," he said.

"Not only is the state government infringing existing state laws, federal policies are also being violated by the de-gazetting which was done in the absence of any public inquiry," he added.

He said the state's violation of state and federal land policies is contained in its agreement with local residents, namely the Petaling and part of Klang District Structure Plan.

The governing law pertaining to land use is the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 while the National Land Code (NLC) governs ownership issues.

"For any changes to the structure plan, whether it is ownership or land use, the government has a legal duty to hold a public inquiry ," said Fernandez.

"In this case, the de-gazetting of the Sungai Buloh Forest is a direct infringement of the structure plan. This is also a clear infringement of the NLC."

Selangor government officials could not be contacted for comment.

'Impotent' MPs

Asked about the local elected representatives, Leong said all of them knew the issue and supported the residents' cause to reinstate and protect the forest reserve.

He said Kota Damansara state assemblyperson Mokhtar Dahlan, when approached during pre-general election talks, kept evading residents' questions on the status of the Sungai Buloh Forest.

Mokhtar was then handling the environment exco portfolio, which was subsequently handed over to Kuala Kubu Baru state assemblyperson Ch'ng Toh Eng.

"When met at an Umno branch gathering earlier this month, he told us that the state was feeling pressured to build affordable housing. He also promised us a dialogue and took down our contact numbers.

"But we have not heard from him since," said a frustrated Leong.

On a parliamentary level, he said Subang Jaya MP KS Nijhar had also promised to look into their appeals but has been silent since.

"He is fully aware of this issue but has done nothing so far. In fact, he had attended a fund-raising event to save the forest."

Fernandez said most MPs actually felt "impotent" to raise land-related issues at the federal level due to the widespread misconception over governing laws pertaining to ownership and land use.

"They can raise this with the Housing and Local Government Ministry and the prime minister who, as chair of the National Physical Planning Council, is empowered to act directly against any state government or authority in the event of a breach of land-related laws.

None of the elected representatives were available for comment.

No response

MNS president Dr Salleh Mohd Nor said numerous letters have been sent to Mohd Khir over the last few years, but without any response to date.

"We have approached many state officials and elected representatives but to no avail. Nothing is being done to rectify the situation."

He said the Sungai Buloh Forest was originally part of the country's oldest forest reserve established in 1898 but subsequently succumbed to developmental pressures in the '90s when 4,000 acres were de-gazetted.

"However, 1,000 acres was set aside for the National Botanical Garden or Taman Botani and yet today, what remains is a mere 850 acres with neither garden nor protective status," he said.

"Upon learning of a new residential project Botany Heights in May 2002, residents got organised and decided to take on the fight against encroachment into the forest reserve."

The original area earmarked for the botanical garden sits along the North-South Highway opposite the Jalan Duta exit was de-gazetted in the early 1990s for the purpose of mixed development.

Despite numerous appeals and calls for dialogue, Salleh said sand-dredging activities and forest-clearing proceeded.

Following media exposure of such activities soon after, he said, the Selangor land office visited the site, declared the land-clearing illegal and issued a stop-work and remedial order.

"Even though the National Botanical Garden has been relocated to nearby Bukit Cahaya, which is in itself another controversy, we still want the Sungai Buloh Forest to remain intact and protected as a forest reserve."