Listed are the newspaper reports on Selangor Menteri Besar Response to Elizabeth Wong 20 Oct 2009 promise to gazet Hutan Simpanan Ayer Hitam back to Forest Reserve:

The Star Online (Metro) Monday October 26, 2009

New location sought for cemetery

By THO XIN YI

SELANGOR Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the government is looking for alternative sites for the proposed cemetery at the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve.

The Selangor state government has agreed not to develop part of Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve into a cemetery.

“We have not decided on the site but it should be within a 40-minute drive from here.

“However, if we move it elsewhere, residents of the new location will object too,” he said.

Green sight: Khalid (left) and Teresa (second from left) visiting the site of the proposed cemetery at the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve.

Together with Kinrara assemblyman Teresa Kok, Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) president Datuk Adnan Md Ikshan and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Forestry Faculty dean Prof Dr Awang Noor Abd Ghani, Khalid visited the forest reserve and the proposed cemetery site after launching the World Habitat Day programme at IOI Mall, Bandar Puchong Jaya, on Saturday.

Since the proposed cemetery project was announced by the previous state government, residents of neighbouring housing estates such as Bandar Bukit Puchong, Taman Saujana Puchong, Gateway Puchong, Lestari Puchong and Mutiara Indah had collectively voiced strong objection.

They had been calling for the abortion of the project to save the forest reserve from being developed.

Teresa appealed to the residents to give the state more time to solve the problem.

“The Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve covered an area of 4,270ha in the past but it has been reduced to 1,248ha over the years. It is a great loss to Selangor folks as it takes centuries for the forest to grow,” she said.

Teresa added that the main objective of the programme was to make people realise the importance of maintaining this precious green lung.

Hence, the public was given the rare opportunity to go into the forest reserve during the event to appreciate its beauty.

To ensure a healthier environment, Khalid said the state would embark on several green projects, including cleaning up the Klang River, generating electricity through solar cells through a company in Science Park II and harvesting rainwater.

“In the next 15 years or so, 85% to 90% of the state will become developed cities. As such, 30% of the state land has been gazetted and cannot be developed in the next 50 years,” Khalid said.

He also said that the state would take over the elevator management of low-cost flats and repaint the buildings.

Touching on the Budget 2010, Khalid said the subsidies, incentives and assistance of almost RM2bil allocated to farmers and fishermen would benefit the people of Sabak Bernam and Sungai Besar.

On another issue, Teresa said the suggestion to construct a toll-free road linking Taman Saujana Puchong and Taman Lestari Putra is costly (RM20mil) and thus is quite unlikely to materialise in the near future.