PETALING JAYA, Jan 21 — A stop work order against the East Klang Valley Expressway was lifted in the middle of last year according to Pelindung Khazanah Alam (Peka).
Peka president Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil said the group, together with Malaysian Nature Society and Treat Every Environment Special (TrEES), had attempted to stop the development in the area as it was a fragile ecosystem and near a major water catchment area.
“We do not just talk, we take action as well and it is unfortunate the court lifted the initial decision to stop the development of the highway in the area,” she said.
“Now we are left with muddy water, unsuitable to be treated and all this has resulted in shortages and disruptions,” she added.
She called on the public to give more support and not keep quiet when it came to deforestation as there could be a heavy price to pay in the future.
“Rapid and massive developments will destruct mother nature and who will suffer if not the rakyat. People should not adopt the nonchalant attitude and only make noise when untowards incidents happen,” she said.
Ecotourism and Conservation Society Malaysia chief executive officer Andrew Sebastian said those responsible for the poor water quality of the Sungai Langat river should be held to account.
“The department’s officers and the developer must be scrutinised over this.
“Either the environmental assessment impact and conditions have not been adhered to or the parameters of the approval need to be re-evaluated,” he said.
Andrew said the situation was “not shocking” and would in fact continue to deteriorate should no action be taken to mitigate the damage to catchment areas.
“Besides managing to totally mismanage our water resources, they disregarded our warnings and even said things ‘could’ happen when we said they would happen,” he said.
He also said the authourities needed to close loopholes and clearly define any grey areas when environmental assessment reports were produced.
“Be clear about things, do not word anything vaguely. If it will affect the environment say so, tell the developer to move elsewhere.
“It is unfortunate and ironic that as we strive to become a tourist hub, we continue to poison our rivers, strip our hills and forests bare,” he said.
