A Sad Day - DEIA for EKVE is Approved By DOE

TrEES has received official confirmation from Department of Environment that the DEIA for the EKVE was approved on 25 April 2013. Under the approval, only part of the originally proposed expressway has been approved as Phase 1, from CH0.000 to CH24000.00, 24.16 km in length, starting Sungai Long interchange to Ukay Perdana interchange.

It is deeply disappointing that the proposed EKVE is progressing ahead, despite the widespread public protest on the project and its negative impacts on an environmentally sensitive area that is critically important to Selangor, KL and Putrajaya.

Are We Jeapordising Our Future for Short Term Gains?

Clearing in Kelantan - Borneo Post

With increasing frequency, newspapers are reporting on Malaysia’s forest being cleared.  Most of these forests are identified as water catchment forests, protecting vital water resources for millions of people.  Furthermore, the water and other services these forests provide, free of charge, provide the critical backbone for the nation’s economy.

Areas highlighted include five hills between Kuala Krai and Gua Musang in Kelantan, Ulu Muda in Kedah, and most recently over 40ha of land spread over four valleys and hills have been stripped of forests in less than a month, for vegetable farming in Cameron Highlands.    And let’s not forget the on-going concern for Taman Warisan Negeri Selangor, with a probable 24km expressway being built through its catchment forest.

Only some of this clearing  may be illegal.  Much of it has been confirmed, by the relevant state authorities, as legal forest clearings! 

Are we throwing it all away?

Legal or illegal, it  all begs the question.  These forests are all important water catchment areas.   With our growing population and the unpredictable consequences of climate change, we should be taking much better care of our precious water resources.

Other countries have found real cost savings by protecting water catchment forests, in both the amount of water and quality of water the forests protect. 

Water security is an issue that is not merely important at the local or state level but also at the national level.  Leadership by example is critical.  Federal government should be compensating states for conserving forests that protect water resources.  States should be prioritising long-term gains of water protection over short term gains of logging or transportation.

(If you want to be depressed, read more on the forest clearings here:)

Clearing in Cameron Highlands - 1 

Clearing in Cameron Highlands is Legal 

clearing in Kelantan 

Logging in Ulu Muda, Kedah 

EKVE-KLORR - Agreement Inked. DEIA Approved?

The announcement by AZRB  stating the company had inked the concession agreement with the Government for the design, construction, completion, operation, management, and maintenance of the 35.5km EKVE, (the eastern route of the Kuala Lumpur Outer Ring Road)  was published in The Star on Wednesday, 13 February 2013. 

Does this mean that DEIA for EKVE has been approved?  

Many people spent a lot of time and effort to voice their concerns over the proposed expressway over the past several years, most recently during the Draft Local Plan Ampang Jaya 2020 and the DEIA public consultation periods. 

Have any of these concerns been incorporated into the DEIA and the proposed project?  Will the approved DEIA will be made available to the public? What is the final approved alignment of the 35.5 km EKVE? So many questions but will the public get the answers before works begin?