I am heartened today to read that the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry has asked state governments to get the approval of their state assemblies before they develop recreational land.
The Star page 1 with header Saving the lungs reported that any de-gazetting of such land should be debated in the state assemblies so that the issues are brought out in the open, said Minister Datuk Seri Adenan Satem.
Usually, the gazetting of state land for recreational purpose is done by state exco members without having to bring the matter up in the assembly, Adenan said.
"It's only when development works are being carried out that the public get wind of it, " he added.
Yes, often the people, constituents whose votes resulted in their wakil rakyat entering the Dewan Undangan Negeri, are not consulted in the big projects in the state while their elected repretatives make a big splash in the local papers on opening a small community hall or donate some money to the neighbourhood school which is anyway the rakyat's money in the form of income and other taxes paid. No big deal really.
But when a property development involves the clearing of trees and levelling of hills affecting the environments and ecosystems, the people are keep in the dark; the wakil rakyat plays dumb until Mother Nature intervenes in the form of a landslide or flooding to highligt a disaster in the making.
Dismal record of state CEOs' decisions
The press report recorded the following dismal record, outstanding among them was the 800ha Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam Agricultural Park fiasco, when the MB Datuk Dr Khir Toyo behaved like the proverbial "ostrich burying its head in the sand" by declaring "Everything is okay" (Read JeffOoi's Semuanya OK series at http://screenshots.com). The weeklong media coverage in February, spearheaded by Utusan Malaysia, on the parkland devastation reached a climax with PM Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's righteous wrath outpouring on his obervation that from his helicopter view, there was "not a single tree, not a single blade of grass" to be seen -- and everything's not OK!
The Cabinet acted swiftly enough ordering Khir Toyo to cease and desist from such raping of the state's land and environments, and take action against the culprits, which included the state PKNS, whose chairman is also the MB himself! And Khir expects the Selangor constituents to just forget the Seri Alam debacle and keep mum when he did a few PR exercises soon after. What arrogance!
Next the Malacca Chief Minister did a catch-up game with his Selangor counterpart in making the media spotlight for the wrong reasons. Early April it was publicised in local media that part of a 41ha of the Bukit Bruang Permanent Forest Reserve in Malacca was in danger of being stripped bare by illegal felling of trees. The state CEO said that 26.3ha of land had been degazetted for deevelopment, saying that it was all planned under a Master Plan dating back to the 1980s. What gall of a state leader hiding under such inane excuses -- times have changed and it's now a new national CEO, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in charge, and he has just directed that all states must conduct Environmental Impact Assessment for areas over 20ha planned for development, an order announced by Pak Lah soon after the Seri Alam debacle.
And when questioned by a DAP leader, as well as other concerned citizen groups, Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam goes hiding under a 1980s Master Plan cloak, what arrogance!
Deputy Prime Minister was quoted by The Star report as having said recently he was upset that recreational land like football fields were left unattended or taken away for development.He cited the example of the football field near the Pudu Jail in Kuala Lumpur which had been earmarked for development.
If state CEOs cannot follow the top two national leaders' example in forestry conservation to promote sustainable and quality development, they should just throw in the towel. But that is too much to expect in an environment where the culture is to "pass the buck". Blame the Shah Alam and Subang Jaya municipal councils, blame the ForestryDepartment, blame everyone but himself, the CEO!
The federal government's proposal announced by Adenan has already met its first opposition -- from Terengganu Menetri Besar, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, who said "the move would make things more difficult" for the state government. Why this should be so is not properly explained because it can't be explained. A proposal to make state governance more transparent and accountable to the rakyat is frowned upon by the CEO because it would make things more difficult for his government! What b..... arrogance!
Indeed, it's timely to remember what Lord Acton says about power and its corrupting influence. Power should be spread as widely as possible and not concentrated in one or two powerful hands. We know how dictators can make billions disappear into thin air from government coffers, and find their way windingly into private safes in overseas banks. Let's check the power of the state Excos and MBs and CMs and move it back to the state assemblies, with hopefully more representation from the Opposition benches, whether in PAS-controlled Kelantan or BN-controlled Terengganu.
Let's undo the power centres, and distribute influence and benefits more equitably.
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