KOTA BARU: The state government is planning to meet the Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad to discuss proposed changes to the development plan involving environmentally sensitive areas (ESA).
Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Dr Mohamed Fadzli Hassan said during the meeting, the state government would present the matter in detail to the ministry.
"God willing. The state government will meet and present the matter to the minister.
"For your information, we (the state government) have previously provided complete information in writing related to the issue.
"I believe there was a misunderstanding related to the matter," he said.
The Temangan assemblyman was commenting on Nik Nazmi's statement that the government would hold a comprehensive discussion on the proposed modification of ESAs in the state within two weeks.
He then said the state government has no plans to cancel the state permanent forest reserve areas and that all quarters need to understand this.
Before this, he said the proposed changes to the development plan involving environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs) in Kelantan is still at the publicity and public participation phase, which runs from Oct 11 to Nov 11.
He added that the proposal was made so that development in Kelantan could be coordinated while ensuring that water catchment areas in the state would continue to be protected.
Last week, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad was reported to have said the government would stop the allocation of the Ecological Fiscal Transfer for Biodiversity Conservation (EFT) to Kelantan if the state continued with its plan to make changes to its development plan involving ESAs.
He said the plan was not in line with the principles underlying the implementation of EFT, which is an additional financial incentive from the federal government to state governments introduced in 2019 to protect and conserve protected areas, including ESAs for biological diversity.
According to Nik Nazmi, the Kelantan government's move to make changes to its development plan involving ESAs would have implications on the federal government's policy to achieve 50 per cent forested area in Peninsular Malaysia in line with the National Physical Plan.
He said the state government, during its state executive council meeting on Oct 21, had decided that permanent forest reserves, except water catchment areas, would no longer be classified as ESAs.