Residents want greens, not graves
28/03/2007 The Star By Jayagandi Jayaraj

Mallek: The green lung should be preserved.
ABOUT 100 environmentally concerned residents staged a peaceful protest against the clearing of part of the Section 9 Kota Damansara Forest near Section 8 for a Muslim cemetery on March 26.

The residents collectively agreed they were not against the idea of a cemetery but were more concerned about the preservation of the green belt.

Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) president Datuk Dr Salleh Mohd Nor said it was ridiculous to cut down the forest as there were other areas that could be looked into for burial purposes.

He said the forest reserve was the last remaining low land forest close to Kuala Lumpur.

“It is ridiculous to chop down the trees for a cemetery as there is another area which can be developed for the purpose nearby.

“Proponents say the land there is rocky but what is so difficult in moving rocks when people can move mountains these days?” said Salleh.

The Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) also used the area as a research forest as there were numerous plots of biodiversity and silviculture in the area.

In the late 80s, the Selangor State government de-gazetted the Forest Reserve for housing development to form the township of Kota Damansara and left about some of it as a botanical garden after objections by some parties.


Green attraction: Resident Zaitun Mansen holding up a newspaper advertisement for the area.
Resident Mohamed Akwal Sultan said the present residents of Kota Damansara were shown a map indicating the presence of a Botanical Garden, which was highlighted as the ‘green’ environment surrounding their township, and used as part of the sales pitch when they bought their homes.

“We bought the land with the assurance of having a botanical garden, not a cemetery,” he said, adding that he had seen monkeys scavenging in the housing area due to the forest clearing.

“We have nothing against the dead but we are more concerned about the green lung, especially with global warming that is already affecting our weather,” said resident Datuk Aziz Razak.

Another resident Mallek Rizal said the green lung should be preserved, as it was a forest area.

“The authorities should at least have discussed the matter with the residents most affected, those who live nearest to the forest,” said Mallek.