THE land clearing for the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project in Selangor does not involve any degazettement of forest reserves, including those within the Selangor State Park, Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) said.

Instead, the ECRL project owner said, to safeguard the environment, the project has complied with the approved environmental impact assessment (EIA), environmental management plan and erosion and sediment control plans guidelines as well as conditions that were prescribed by the Department of Environment (DOE) and Department of Irrigation and Drainage.

“To facilitate preparatory works for the ECRL construction, MRL has obtained a right-of-way permit from the Forestry Department so that its contractors could enter the forest reserve to carry out licensed activities related to the ECRL,” it said in a statement today.

MRL was responding to recent claims by a civil society group that it found land-clearing activities in four areas in Selangor State Park.

On the EIA, a mandatory requirement under the Environmental Quality Act 1974, MRL said the assessment was submitted to the DOE on November 30, 2021 and approved on December 20, 2021.

“For the record, the ECRL railway scheme for section C2 (Gombak-Serendah-Port Klang) was granted by the Transport Ministry to MRL on January 14, 2022, after a three-month public inspection as per the statutory requirements of the Land Public Transport Act 2010,” it said.

“On September 14, we received approval from the Selangor government to proceed with the construction of ECRL section C2 alignment.”

It said the ECRL construction activities under section C2 are carried out tactfully in consultation with local communities and all relevant stakeholders and in accordance with the regulatory requirements.

“For our ongoing project in Selangor, we work closely with authorities and government agencies at all levels, including the federal government, the Selangor government, Selangor Forestry Department, DOE and all relevant local councils,” it said.

“In addition, both MRL and China Communications Construction (ECRL) Sdn Bhd (CCC-ECRL) are proactively holding meetings and engagement sessions with the Selangor authorities and all stakeholders of the ECRL project, including the local communities living near the worksites.”

The company emphasised that together with the main contractor CCC-ECRL, it is committed to fully comply with all requirements set out by the authorities to protect the environment and safeguard public interest. – Bernama, February 6, 2023.