KLORR - Financial Close Means that Work Could Commence Soon

Based on an article that appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on 11 August 2011, the Terengganu-based construction outfit Ahmad Zaki Resources Bhd (AZRB) has reached financial close with Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd for the RM1.5 billion KL Outer Ring Road (KLORR) project. Financial close is the last hurdle before funds can be drawn down to commence work on a project.  


This could indicate that AZRB is finalising details of the concession agreement with the government and that work on the project could commence soon. 


According to the article, AZRB was given the letter of intent to undertake the project back in 2008, building the 40km stretch from Sungai Long to University Islam Antarabangsa in Gombak, linking up with the South Klang Valley Expressway and Kuala Lumpur-Kuala Selangor Expressway, among others.  

The article further stated that the KLORR job could be a boost for AZRB. As at end-March this year, AZRB had an order book of RM1.06 billion. Some of the more prominent jobs were the design and building of Complex Kerja Raya 2 in Jalan Sultan Salahuddin, Kuala Lumpur, for RM266 million, packages 2, 6, 5A and 9C of the East Coast Highway amounting to some RM207 million and Universiti Darul Imam package 3 building works valued at RM192 million.

As per the article, AZRB is 59.24% controlled by Zaki Holdings (M) Sdn Bhd. Zaki Holdings is the vehicle of Datuk Seri Wan Zaki Wan Muda, the executive vice-chairman of AZRB, managing director Datuk Wan Zakariah Wan Muda and executive director Datuk Wan Zulkifli Wan Muda.

To date, the public has no clear picture of where the exactly KLORR highway will be built, aside from the simple line drawn on the map of the Draft Local Plan Ampang Jaya 2020.  Based on articles that have appeared in the newspapers since the Draft Plans were released, this alignment may be changed, but no information on other proposed alignments have been offered to the public. 

Over 1,000 residents sent in their written objections to the alignment of the KLORR back in 2009, through the public feedback sought under the Draft Local Plan Ampang Jaya 2020.   Communities are very concerned about the impacts the KLORR highway will have on the forests of Taman Negeri Selangor,  the water supply to Selangor and KL, and the neighborhoods that will be affected. 

Looking at other highways, the KLORR will most likely require a wide swath of forest to be cleared for its construction.

Kajang to Seremban Highway:

Karak Highway:

Retaining walls:

There has to be a better solution to the traffic problem, than putting a highway through critical water catchment areas!  

Selamat Hari Raya, Selamat Hari Merdeka & Selamat Bercuti!

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday break!

Once you've stuffed yourself with lemang, rendang and pineapple tarts, why not get some fresh air and exercise.  Visit one of the many recreational sites in the Park.

Find the site closest to you:

Recreational Sites In & Around the Park

ENJOY!

Wild Boars - Eurasian Wild Pigs

Order : ARTIODACTYLA
Family : Suidae
Species : Sus scrofa

Head-Body Length : Males up to 1.5 metres
Height : Males up to 0.8 metres
Tail Length : Males up to 300 cm
Weight : Males up to 200 kg, females are smaller

Wild Boar / Eurasian Wild Pig

If you live in a residential community that borders along Taman Negeri Selangor, there is a good chance you have seen a Wild Boar or Eurasian Wild Pig coming out of the forest to forage in grassy areas of your neighborhood in the late evening.

The Eurasian Wild Pig inhabits primary and secondary forest, but, as mentioned above, it will also forage in adjacent cleared or agricultural areas. In parts of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore the species occurs in mangroves.   It is found within Taman Negeri Selangor.

The Eurasian Wild Pig has one of the widest geographic distributions of all terrestrial mammals, and this range has been greatly expanded by human agency. The species now occurs in pure wild or barely modified feral form on all continents excepting Antarctica, and on many oceanic islands.

Eurasian Wild Pigs are generally to be found in groups of up to 20, though adult males are often solitary.   Adults are dark grey to black, and juveniles brownish with distinctive horizontal stripes. Wild pigs are prolific breeders and apparently breed throughout the year. 

They are omnivorous, living on crops, roots, tubers, fruits and carrion. Other items commonly consumed by these pigs included soil, earthworms, roots and other vegetable matter and in mangrove areas, molluscs, crabs and other arthropods and even fishes.  They also enjoy domestic crops, and no animal is more destructive to crops than pigs. 

The Wild Pig is the ancestor of most (but not all) ancient and modern domestic pig breeds, and there is evidence to suggest that it was independently domesticated in several different parts of its range, including Southeast Asia.  The Eurasian Wild Pig, however, is greater size than its domesticated cousins.  And has a mane of bristly hairs extending along the back. The mane becomes erect when the animal is feeling threatened.

The Eurasian Wild Pig is a chief food source for tigers and leopards.  It is also a popular food item among humans.  The wild pig has constituted a primary resource of subsistence hunters since the earliest times, and it remains one of the most popular targets for recreational hunting wherever it remains sufficiently abundant.

Over-hunting and changes in land use have resulted in the fragmentation of its range and its extermination throughout the British Isles, Scandinavia, parts of North Africa, and relatively extensive parts of its range in the former Soviet Union. and northern Japan.

Nevertheless, the species remains widely distributed and is often locally abundant within the Peninsular and within the Park.  As a result of its depredations on crops it is regarded as a pest in many countries.

In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the Eurasian Wild Pig is categorized as “Least Concern” due to its wide range, abundance, tolerance to habitat disturbance, and presence in many protected areas.  Here in Malaysia, the wild pig is listed in the First Schedule, Part I, as a hunted Species, of the Wildlife Conservation Action 2010.  This means it is a “protected wildlife”  but it can be hunted with a license.

Despite its abundance, it can be an exciting treat to see a group of  wild pigs coming out of the forest in the evenings, to forage in along the grassy roadside, especially when there are young babies in the group – provided you are seeing them from the safety of your car!

  

Read more at (all information extracted from these sites):

Ecology Asia:

http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/mammals/wild_pig.htm

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:

http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/41775/0

Department of Wildlife and National Parks Malaysia

http://www.wildlife.gov.my/index.php/en/component/content/article/64-mamalia/378-mammals7

Wild Pigs:

http://wiienvis.nic.in/ungulatesofindia/pig.htm