KUALA LUMPUR: An environmental NGO is demanding the government amend several provisions of the National Forestry Act 1984 for greater environmental protection.
The Association for the Protection of the Natural Heritage of Malaysia (Peka) vice president Sophine Tan said a memorandum will be sent to all 222 MPs with demands to amend several parts of the act.
“The amendment is that we want Malaysians to have a right to the forest,“ said Tan at a press conference, after attending Ops Darurat: #MYClimateRally in Dataran Merdeka here today.
She said that details of the amendments will be released in a press statement tomorrow.
Tan said the NGO will hand over the memorandum to lawmakers in Parliament between July 8 and 17, before the current Parliament session ends on July 18.
She added that a rally will be held on the last day of this Parliament session where participants will march at Padang Merbok from 8am towards Parliament.
“We must work together, otherwise, we will lose everything,“ she said.
Earlier, the #MYClimateRally demanded greater government action on climate change-based initiatives and policies.
The rally was organised by Klima Acton Malaysia (Kamy) together with several NGOs including Peka, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).
The group began walking at 11.30am from the Masjid Jamek LRT station to Dataran Merdeka, chanting “reject logging”, “We want climate justice” and “power to the people”, among others.
The rally, which was monitored by several policemen, dispersed shortly after 1.30pm.
