Rivers turned 'coffee-black': Malaysia's Johor royals linked to forests felled for oil palm plantations without proper approval

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A Malaysian plantation company, with the Johor royal family as its indirect majority shareholders, may have been developing land well ahead of getting the necessary approval. Satellite images show that from 2020 to 2021, more than 600 hectares (1,483 acres) of forest on the 3,775-hectare site were cleared in Johor. By June last year, kilometres of new irrigation drains crisscrossed...

The northeastern corner of the plantation, where newly planted oil palm is seen in front of a forest reserve.A Malaysian plantation company, with the Johor royal family as its indirect majority shareholders, may have been developing land well ahead of getting the necessary approval.

An EIA report shows if and how the developer would mitigate these environmental impacts. But AA Sawit Sdn Bhd, the company responsible for establishing the plantation, only filed its EIA report dated June 2022 a few weeks ago. By then, the site had been logged and worked on for two years. Neither the federal Department of Environment nor the Johor state government responded to questions on AA Sawit's project. Golden Ecosystems Sdn Bhd, the consultancy company hired to produce the EIA report, told This Week in Asia that it is bound by a non-disclosure agreement.This Week in Asia could not independently verify if licences for activities on the plantation, including logging and planting, had been issued ahead of the EIA report's final approval.

However, satellite images show that the site was being cleared months before consultants got there. Six months into 2020, at least 300 hectares of forests were removed from plot PTD 4118 - forests that locals said once housed elephants, barking deers, gibbons, and hornbills. Bulldozers and chainsaws continued to fell trees even as the consultants came in months later to survey wildlife and sample groundwater.

The villagers say that fertilisers and pesticides that flow from plantation drains have polluted the river. This allegation is partially supported by the EIA report findings of high levels of iron, manganese, and ammoniacal nitrogen in the stream from the plantations.

 

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Takde bukti tetiba kena tuduh? Dpt berita dari mana? Tak kan fitnah dari musuh yg nak jatuh kan Johor kau percaya bulat2 pulak.

No proper evidence given.i think this a hoax

Another liberal agenda? Tak ada bukti jgn tuduh sebarangan.

Corruption knows no rules when it comes to the elite!

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