Updated 6 days ago ·
Published on 6 Aug 2024 7:00AM ·
Environmental group Greenpeace Malaysia stands with the Orang Asli in Kelantan in championing climate action through stronger forest governance. – Greenpeace pic, August 6, 2024.
CANDIDATES for the Nenggiri by-election must prioritise forest governance issues in Kelantan to ensure protection of the Orang Asli community, said environmental group Greenpeace Malaysia.
It said the Orang Asli there faced unchecked environmental degradation caused by massive deforestation, depriving them of basic needs such as clean water.
“Just as a forest needs strong ecosystems to flourish, successful governance requires robust systems to thrive.
“It is imperative that we elect competent political representatives who are capable of implementing established climate change solutions with a focus on the preservation of natural resources and environmental protection.
“These representatives should be tasked with enacting robust legislation pertaining to forest governance, thereby ensuring the long-term sustainability and prosperity of Kelantan,” said Greenpeace Malaysia’s Clean Environment Campaigner AnnJil Chong.
She added that national-level forestry legislation was needed to prevent illegal and unchecked logging or deforestation.
She said the authorities must acknowledge and support Orang Asli land rights and livelihoods.
She also called for investment in renewable energy sources, particularly solar power, to reduce reliance on unsustainable energy.
Greenpeace Malaysia said the severity of issues faced by Kelantan residents, especially the vulnerable Orang Asli community, had deep, lasting consequences.
“There is a disparity between what has been discussed about Kelantan in parliament and by elected representatives,” it said.
Greenpeace Malaysia noted that according to Global Forest Watch, Kelantan had lost approximately 179,000ha of primary forest between 2002 and 2023.
It added that the Kelantan government was continuing to push for the declassification of environmentally sensitive areas such as the Gua Musang enclave. This would affect Kelantan National Park and the federal government’s promise to maintain 50% of its land mass under forest cover in Peninsular Malaysia.
Scant debate in parliament
To make matters worse, there appeared to be little to no debate about the situation in parliament, Greenpeace Malaysia said.
“Throughout Greenpeace Malaysia’s Hansard scraping analysis of 2023, there were 506 questions raised relating to Kelantan over the three seatings, with only one mention at parliament of illegal logging and one on Environmental Impact Assessment, despite 27 mentions of flood and 12 mentions of flood mitigation.
“Likewise, there has also been a very low mention of Kelantan land encroachment in the Malaysian parliament in 2023 – only one mention of encroachment and one mention of indigenous peoples rights relating to Kelantan,” it said.
Greenpeace said the state government was bulldozing through environmentally unsound projects such as several mining and monoculture farming projects affecting Kampung Kelaik’s Orang Asli like the pollution caused at Sungai Kelaik and Sungai Rumlang.
The Nenggiri dam – supposedly intended to resolve flooding issues and generate electricity – was also being constructed although it badly affected the Gua Musang Orang Asli, Greenpeace Malaysia said.
The Malaysian Insight reported last year that the Orang Asli community in Nenggiri planned to use the upcoming by-election to address rampant land clearing for development in their area, which sits in Gua Musang.
They said constant development had eroded their quality of life over the past decade. They were distressed by frequent wildlife encroachment into their villages, contaminated water resources, destroyed vegetable plots, flash floods, and frequent mudslides.
Two representatives of the community told The Malaysian Insight that they sought political recourse.
The Nenggiri by-election, set for August 17, will see a straight fight between Barisan Nasional/Umno candidate Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani and Perikatan Nasional/Bersatu’s Mohd Rizwadi Ismail.
There are about 2,700 registered Orang Asli voters in Nenggiri, located some 250km from Kota Baru, Kelantan’s capital and commercial hub.
Nenggiri voters comprise Malays (85.93%), Orang Asli (13.84%), Chinese (0.20%), and Indians (0.03%). – August 6, 2024.
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