KUANTAN, Oct 2 — The Pahang government has agreed to gazette an additional 780.94 hectares of land in Maran and Kuantan as water catchment areas, said Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail.
He said it involved 443.73 hectares of Berkelah Permanent Forest Reserve in Maran and 337.21 hectares of Lepar Permanent Forest Reserve in Kuantan.
Wan Rosdy said the matter was decided at the State Executive Council meeting on Sept 29, as part of efforts to continue to preserve and ensure the state’s environmental sustainability.
“Overall, some 343,503.35 hectares of land in Pahang has been gazetted as water catchment areas,” he said in a statement today.
Wan Rosdy said development projects are not allowed to be carried out on land that have been gazetted as a water catchment area as it is deemed an environmentally sensitive area.
The area of permanent forest reserves in Pahang currently stands at 1.59 million hectares.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency