State have the right to convert forests into govt land: Wan Junaidi

PUTRAJAYA: States have the right to convert land reserves into government property without approval from the federal government, according to Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
"States have the right to convert forest reserve to government land provided they replace it with another land parcel. They can do this even without the approval of the federal government," he told theSun when asked about the conversion of 4,515 ha of forest reserve into government land.
"The law allows the states to do this, it is an area that we need to look into," he told theSun.
NGOs like the Malaysian Nature Society and WWF Malaysia have criticised the sale of the land to TDM Berhad for its domestic oil palm plantation expansion plan.
WWF Malaysia have said that this is tantamount to large-scale deforestation.
The environmental NGO said this deforestation would lead to significant loss of biodiversity, multiple direct and indirect socioeconomic impacts, and disruption of delicate ecosystems.