Anwar’s action on Selangor is crucial for Selangor’s future

By Stephen Ng 

        The outburst of Dusun Tua assemblyperson Edry Faizal Eddy Yusof against a Selangor state exco within the ruling coalition could not have happened overnight. 

Unless the voters, especially the Malays, are still solidly behind Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the coming state election, if this issue is not addressed immediately by Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, the coalition runs into the risk of losing Selangor to the “Green Wave.”

        This will be to the chagrin of urban supporters who vow that Islamist party Pas should not be allowed to rule the nation, and losing Selangor would not go down well with Anwar’s unity government, which now has the support of Umno.

Risk of Losing Selangor is Very Real

PH will be ending its third term in Selangor soon, but unlike its counterpart in Penang, it has failed to deliver the quality of services that is expected of the local government under its control. 

Although Anwar realised this, when he set up the Ministry of Local Government and Development, efforts need to be stepped up, not only at reforming the third tier of government which directly affects the lives of the people, but in Selangor, the current state government may have to be replaced with younger and more altruistic leaders before the next state election.

The current batch of state exco including its Menteri Besar no longer pay heed to the rumblings on the ground; instead, chiding fellow state assemblymen for being a “loose cannon.”  

          What may originally begin as courteous exchanges between members of the public and the a member of the state exco, for example, may soon turn into legal battles, with one NGO already suing the state government over the longstanding Bukit Cherakah issue.

Several letters through its solicitors seeking to meet with the Selangor State Government to understand the legal status of Bukit Cherakah forest reserve, for example, failed to receive any response.

Amirudin had promised to provide a clarification on the Bukit Cherakah issue within a week from September 11, but he has failed to do so till today. “Till now, we are still waiting for his explanation,” Dr Lim Teck Wyn, honorary treasure of Shah Alam Community Forest Society, said.

This whole controversy revolves around five companies that were given over 600 hectares of forest reserve in Bukit Cherakah. Two of the companies Perbadanan Kerajaan Negeri Selangor (PKNS) and Permodalan Negeri Selangor Berhad (PNSB), of which Amiruddin is chairman. The other companies have paid-up capital of RM2 when they were awarded the land.

Amirudin has a history of degazetting forest reserve land and he had courted controversy. In 2020, when the Selangor State Forestry Department (JPNS) announced the state government’s intention to degazette the majority of the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve (KLNFR), Amirudin received brickbats from all over the country.

In the same incident, PKR president, Anwar Ibrahim had instructed Amirudin to cancel the degazettement of the KLNFR, which Amirudin failed to comply. The State Assembly had rejected Amirudin's proposal to degazette the forests.

So, Edry’s sudden outburst is understandable. It is not surprising that the 37-year-old first term state assemblyman, who joined DAP since 2012, may have tried to engage with his fellow assemblyman to work out an amicable solution, before taking it to the public domain.

        In a Twitter post, Edry lambasted Hee openly, accusing Hee as being “unfair” in the way Hee handles the diversion of over a hundred 30-tonne load lorries, which will be plying the Hulu Langat road on a daily basis. 

        Since Edry’s voice represents the genuine concerns felt by his constituents, silencing Edry would not do because Edry’s position would be jeopardised if he did not bring out the issue into the public domain.

Currently, there are only four quarries that are operating in Hulu Langat, but the moment the other quarries on 24 to 27 plots of land on Bukit Lagong are operational, the damage to the environment and the livelihood of people living in the area would be affected. 

Selangor Facing More Issues with Bukit Lagong

The Bukit Lagong issue is a time bomb sitting in Selangor due to the way both Amirudin and Hee handled the issues. 

On October 30 last year, Selayang MP, William Leong who is also PKR treasurer, had openly told Amirudin not to use “technicalities and disingenuous arguments” to avoid public scrutiny when dealing with the Bukit Lagong quarry licenses. 

According to Leong, Hee had also irked NGOs and the public when he failed to addressed their concerns on Bukit Lagong quarry operations comprehensively. Leong’s demand for an explanation before the last general election was not heeded by Amirudin. 

The same issue has also forced a former Otai Reformis and PKR loyalist, Abdul Razak Ismail to start a Green Party to contest in the coming state election, which led to his sacking by the party recently. 

Abdul Razak, who earlier wrote to the state government under the Freedom of Information Act, asking for information about the quarry licenses was disappointed when he was told that the file is under the Official Secrets Act. 

He later discovered that the licenses were issued to shell companies with paid-up capital as low as RM2.00, RM3.00, RM25.00 and RM100.00. The licenses were also issued to the Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI), Cooperative of the Forestry Department, among others. Two of former Menteri Besar Azmin Ali's aides were also identified as the directors in the companies that were issued the licenses.

           It is also not uncommon for politicians seeking protection from the royal family to also offer some of the licenses to companies that may eventually drag certain members of the royal family into their own controversies. 

            Meanwhile, Abdul Razak’s complaint against the Menteri Besar has been transferred from MACC Selangor to Putrajaya.