High Court allows EKVE developer to be intervenor

KUALA LUMPUR (June 8): The High Court here yesterday allowed an application by the developer of the East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE) project to be an intervenor in a lawsuit by three environmental organisations to challenge the Selangor Forestry Department’s decision to close Taman Rimba Ampang (Ampang Forest Park) to make way for the project.

Judge Datuk Hanipah Farikullah made the decision in chambers after hearing submissions from all the parties.

Lawyer M Khartini, representing the three environmental organisations, told reporters that the court granted the application by EKVE Sdn Bhd because the company’s interest was directly affected by the lawsuit.

She said the judge also amended the temporary stay order to stop any work for the EKVE project within the Ampang Forest Reserve until the hearing of the inter-parte stay on July 20.

“The court also set Oct 10 to hear the merit of the judicial review application,” she added.

The three environmental organisations had obtained the temporary stay order to stop construction work and logging in the Ampang Forest Reserve from the High Court on May 11.

The organisations are the Malaysian Nature Society, Treat Every Environment Special Sdn Bhd and the Association for the Protection of Natural Heritage of Malaysia.

In their judicial review application, the organisations named the Selangor government, Selangor Forestry Department and Ampang Jaya Municipal Council as the first to third respondents.

In their application filed in April, they had sought a certiorari order to quash the decision of the Forestry Department to close the forest reserve, which is the main access to members of the public to get into the forest reserve to give way to the construction work on the EKVE.

They are also seeking a declaration that the approval, permit and licence given by the three respondents for logging and construction for the EKVE project located in the Ampang Forest Reserve to be cancelled as it was illegal and against the law.

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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 8, 2016. Subscribe to The Edge Financial Daily here.