Rep: Clear the air on Pahang forest projects linked to MCA leaders
Bilut assemblyperson Lee Chin Chen urged the Pahang state government to reveal details of the seven forest plantation projects involving Fajarbaru Builder Group Berhad.
The DAP representative said this would clear the air if there were irregularities since the firm is linked to MCA leaders.
Lee was responding to a Malaysiakini special report on developers...Bilut assemblyperson Lee Chin Chen urged the Pahang state government to reveal details of the seven forest plantation projects involving Fajarbaru Builder Group Berhad.
The DAP representative said this would clear the air if there were irregularities since the firm is linked to MCA leaders.
Lee was responding to a Malaysiakini special report on developers dividing a major project into several pieces to avoid making public their Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports.
Of the 18 forest plantation projects approved last year in Pahang, seven were related to Fajarbaru, whose executive chairperson is former MCA deputy president Chan Kong Choy.
The firm's subsidiaries and affiliates are also linked to MCA leaders and their families.
“Last year alone, the Pahang state government approved 39 percent of forest plantation projects to Fajarbaru affiliates, which are controlled by MCA leaders.
“This makes people wonder if there is something going on,” Lee (above) said in a statement.
The assemblyperson stressed it is incumbent upon the Pahang state government to explain to the public about the criteria and approval process.
Federal govt should amend laws
Lee pointed out that Fajarbaru's affiliates developed 1,262.22 hectares in the Tekam forest but it was divided into three separate projects.
As a result, he noted, all three projects were not required to make public their EIA reports or seek public feedback.
“Obviously, this is exploiting a loophole to avoid public consultation, (so that) they can carry out forest development projects quietly,” Lee alleged, urging the federal government to review the law.
Meanwhile, Tanah Rata assemblyperson Chiong Yoke Kong, who is also from DAP, criticised the EIA categorisation of forest development projects.
He referred to medium-sized (Schedule 1) projects of between 100 and 500 hectares in which their EIA reports are not required to be made public.
He said preventing the public from access to such information and from scrutinising the projects goes against their fundamental right.
According to Chiong, the regulations for small projects, which cover less than 100 hectares, are too lenient.
“In fact, forest projects which cover more than 10 hectares should be categorised as medium-sized projects and be required to submit an EIA report,” he added.
Make projects public
Yesterday, environmental organisation Peka Malaysia urged state forestry departments nationwide to make EIA reports and public hearings compulsory for all projects regardless of size.
Records show that Fajarbaru cleared at least 2,723.09 hectares of land in the Tekam Forest Reserve and Tekai Tembeling Forest Reserve through its subsidiaries and affiliates in 2021.
Despite the projects related to Fajarbaru amounting to the size of 3,813 football fields, their EIA reports were not required to be made public.
Apart from Chan, others linked to the projects are Pahang MCA chairperson Hoh Khai Mun as well as Lim Siew Mei, who is the sister of Natalie Lim Chong Ly, who chairs MCA's crisis relief squad (CRSM).
Malaysiakini has reached out to Fajarbaru and its affiliates for their response.
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