A New Road Usually Marks the Beginning of Human Development

Building a new road or highway through a pristine ecosystem is only the beginning of human-related impacts on the ecosystem. In a short period of time, the new road or highway induces secondary development, in the form of additional branch roads, commercial development and human settlement that can have an even larger impact on ecosystems than the new road or highway alone.

This is a major concern. 

In page ES-12 of the Executive Summary of the DEIA (Detailed Environment Impact Assement) for the EKVE (East Klang Valley Expressway), it is stated:
“The proposed route ………..Based on the potential impact on current landuse and future, the areas involved will lose the status of the current landuse such as forest to highway development.”

There is a possibility that the current land use status of the area in and around the Park traversed by the expressway could change from ‘State Park’ to ‘development’ use with the construction of EKVE.  New townships could appear in and around the proposed route.  This will be a key selling point by developers…accessibility to highways, etc. That being the case, the gazetted TWNS area will eventually shrink with rapid urbanization. The prestigious housing development projects along Guthrie Corridor Expressway are testament to this. The potential long term negative spinoffs from this project are not addressed at all in the DEIA.

Page 2-16 of Chapter 2 of the DEIA increases concerns:

“It conforms to the intended KLORR concept (Outer Ring Road) of which the alignment is away from MRR2 and caters for future extension of KLORR (Northern Link)

According to the Public Works Department Malaysia:

“In setting out and discussing the potentially significant environmental impacts of the proposed project, consideration should be given to possible indirect, cumulative, synergistic or antagonistic environmental effects.”

Contrary to these guidelines, the DEIA for the EKVE contained no consideration whatsoever of the

cumulative, indirect or induced impacts of the new highway.  It is unreasonable to assume that a new highway through Selangor State Park and other critical wildlife areas would not be followed by further branch roads, commercial development and human settlement along and away from the new highway, if not soon but eventually.

You can read more on our concerns relating to the EKVE at TrEES website 

While the DEIA was approved, TrEES and many other groups remain very concerned that the EKVE would be only the beginning of human-induced impacts on what are now pristine ecological areas. 

Taman Warisan Negeri Selangor Needs Your Help

Thank you everyone for your support in the past for the Park.  The Park needs your help again.  The DEIA for the East Klang Valley Expressway has been approved. See The Star article.  The DEIA was produced based on the letter issued by the Menteri Besar in Nov 2010, agreeing to the proposal of constructing an expressway through part of the Park.

We are very concerned that the Selangor State Government is not serious about protecting the Park.  

Please Send An Email To The Selangor State Government expressing your concern. So sorry to rush you, but we hope you can do it immediately.

  

Below is a template for you to use for your email.  Please copy the section in blue and paste it into your email to the State.  You can personalise the email as you like.

Send the email TO (you can put them all together in one email, or send separately): khalid@selangor.gov.my  

elizabethwong@selangor.gov.my

ustsallehen@selangor.gov.my

hannah@hannahyeoh.com

iskandar@selangor.gov.my

abuwafee@gmail.com

azmin.ali@gmail.com

tiewwaykeng@gmail.com

dunkajang@gmail.com

dusuntua23@gmail.com

cc the email to:

krahimah@gmail.com  (YAB’s PA)

Subject:   Concern for the Protection and Conservation of Taman Warisan Negeri Selangor

Y.A.B. Tan Sri Dato' Abdul Khalid Bin Ibrahim and representatives of the Selangor State Government,

I would like to express my grave concern over the current level of protection and conservation of Taman Warisan Negeri Selangor. 

It was announced that the Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) for the East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE) was approved on 25 April 2013 (The Star Online, Friday, 7 June 2013). The DEIA was produced after YAB Tan Sri Dato’ Abdul Khalid issued a letter to Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia in November 2010 (included in the DEIA report), agreeing to the proposal of constructing an expressway through two water catchment forests of the Park.

The project is now in the final stages of approval.  The Environmental Management Plan and other reports will be submitted to the Department of Environment Selangor for their review and approval soon.

I would like to ask the Selangor State Government why the State Government is allowing the construction of an expressway in the forests of Taman Warisan Negeri Selangor that are important water catchment forests?  There has been a public debate for the last few years between the federal government and Selangor State government regarding a pending water crisis for Selangor, KL and Putrajaya. 

Seeing that the State’s water supply is so critical, why jeopardise it by constructing a highway through important catchment forest and face the risks of Selangor:

•      not being able to meet its water demands

•      losing potential investments due to concerns on the ability of the state to supply sufficient water

At the same time billions are being spent to bring water from Pahang The Pahang Selangor Raw Water Transfer Project.  This does not make economic sense.

Taman Warisan Negeri Selangor plays a critical role in supporting the economic and social well being of Selangor.   As a ‘protected area’ the Park should not be threatened by development such as expressways.  The State Government should be insisting that the Park remain intact, so that it can continue to support the needs of the state.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely

(Your Name)

Go Green this Holiday - and every day

Hari Raya, and every holiday, is such a wonderful time.  It is also a very busy time.  Everyone is out shopping, cleaning up their houses, clearing out old junk, and inviting lots of family and friends over to celebrate.

Caring for the environment is something we must try to do every day, even during the holiday season. Here are a few tips to help make your Raya holiday a bit greener:

- Cleaning the house

We all want a clean house for the holidays, but house cleaning often uses a lot of chemicals that can be harmful to ourselves and the environment.  Try to clean your house without using harmful chemicals.  Two very useful ingredients to keep on-hand are baking soda and natural vinegar.  These two simple, non-toxic items can help you clean wonders in your house.

Click here for  a List of alternative cleaners for the home that you might find useful.
Click here to read a quick article on the  hazards of household cleaners   

- Avoid disposable plates, cups and cutlery

While it may be convenient to use disposable plates, cups and cutlery (forks, spoons etc), many of

these are made with plastic or styrofoam.  We use these items for a few minutes only, but the plasti

and styrofoam remain for hundreds to thousands of years.  This adds to the huge problem of rubbish.  Malaysians produce so much rubbish, that we could fill the Petronas Twin Towers with trash every 9 days.

As much as possible, use reusable plates and cups.  If everyone in the family chips in to help with the washing, it won't be too much extra work. Tell the family that this is one of their small contributions to help protect the Planet.

Click hear to read more about the  environment hazards of styrofoam
Click here to read more about the health hazards of styrofoam

- Don't Trash It, Recycle  It!

Over the holidays you will probably be cooking a lot.  You'll be going through many tins and containers of food.  Set up a recycling corner in your kitchen or pantry, to  keep recyclable items such as aluminium cans, steel tins, plastic bottles, paper and used cooking oil separate from ordinary trash.

Once you've accumulated a bit of recyclables, you can send them to a recycling centre, such as the Community Recycling Centres organised by TrEES.  When you recycle at one of the centres, not only are you helping the environment, you are also helping the less fortunate, as the funds raised at these centres goes to the participating welfare organisation!  A single effort that does double the good!

Find one of TrEES Community Recycling Centre  nearest to you.
Read what you can recycle at TrEES centres, so you keep the correct items separate.

- Eat low on the food chain

Many of us don't think about it, but what you eat has a big impact on the environment.  It is also something that we can control quite easily.  Well, maybe not that easily, but it is definitely easier than installing solar panels or buying a hybrid car, and it can have an even more significant impact.

Animals raised for meat use very large amounts of land -- land to graze and land used to raise crops that feed livestock, and yet produces much less protein and calories relative to the amount of land used. 

This is especially true for beef.

It may not be easy to eat less meat when visiting the Hari Raya open house, just thinking about all that rendang and serunding makes your mouth water.  But in between open houses, when you are having that meal at home, try to eat more fruits and veggies, and cut back on meat products.  It will also help you keep off those extra kgs we all put during Hari Raya!  If you are cooking for your own open house, try to use tofu or tempeh (or chicken if you really can't give up meat) instead of beef, to reduce your impact.  Serve lots of fruits and veggies as well.

Eating 'low on the food chain' doesn't mean you have to become a strict vegetarian, it just means you try to reduce your meat consumption when possible, and be aware that the food you eat has an impact on the environment.  According to the Environmental Defense Fund, “if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads.”

So eat low on the food chain!

Read more on why eating low on the food chain helps the environment:

 Huffington Post

The Guardian 

Care2.com 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!