KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today extended an order temporarily barring the closure of the Ampang Forest Park and construction works there which form the East Klang Valley Expressway(EKVE) project.
Lawyer Kwan Will Sen confirmed the extension by senior assistant registrar Nor Hasniah Ab Razak during case management today.
The order was issued on May 11 to maintain the status quo in the judicial review brought by three environmental organisations - the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS), Treat Every Environment Special Sdn Bhd (TEES), and the Association for the Protection of Natural Heritage of Malaysia (PEKA).
Kwan, who acted for MNS, TEES, and PEKA, said Nor Hasniah fixed June 7 for case management.
The June 7 case management is to set a date to hear an inter-partes (both parties present during proceedings) injunction bid to temporarily prevent Ampang Forest Park's closure and related construction works.
On whether the Ampang Forest Park is still open and on the actual status of construction works there, Kwan said they would go there personally to inspect the situation soon.
On a related matter, Kwan added that no legal representatives by the Selangor government and state Forestry Department were present during case management today.
He said only the third respondent, Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ), sent a representative via its legal advisor Siti Aishah Salim.
Kwan said Siti Aishah had informed the court that MPAJ would appoint "external" lawyers to act for it in the June 7 case management.
MNS, TEES and PEKA are seeking to quash the Jan 9 decision by the three respondents to close Ampang Forest Park for three years, from Jan 5 this year to May 5, 2019.
According to court papers, Ampang Forest Park is the main access for the public to Gombak's Ampang Forest Reserve, which was gazetted as a permanent forest reserve in 1913 and included in the Selangor State Parks in 2007.
The EKVE project involves a proposed toll highway connecting Bandar Sungai Long, Kajang, and Ukay Perdana, Ampang.
MNS, TEES and PEKA seek to nullify the authorisation - by the Selangor Forestry Department and co-respondents Ampang Jaya Municipal Council and the Selangor state government - for the construction works and related logging in the Ampang Forest Reserve.
The three organisations claimed that the three respondents' action conflicted with the Federal government's position on deforestation, as Malaysia had ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on July 13, 1994.
They claimed that the construction works in the Ampang Forest Reserve threaten the biological diversity and balance of the Selangor State Park via destruction of its unique habitat for endangered animals like tigers, tapirs, Malayan Sun Bears, leopards and Sumatran Serows (species of goat-antelope).
They alleged that any construction in the Ampang Forest Reserve would jeopardise a key water catchment area there and pollute the water source to the people of Selangor.
They also claimed that the construction would adversely affect dam integrity and safety, negatively impact eco-tourism, and cause deforestation, which could lead to change in the microclimate (climate of a small area that differs from the surrounding area).