IS THE HIGHLAND RESORTS ROAD NECESSARY?
In February 1997 the Prime Minister
of Malaysia announced that the Government would go ahead with the proposal
to construct a highland highway, a 2-lane highway running along the flanks
of the Main Range of Peninsular Malaysia, linking the hill resorts of Genting
Highlands, Fraser’s Hill and Cameron Highlands.
According to a study by the Public Works
Department, the Highland Resorts Road (HRR) would be about 220 km long,
built at an elevation of about 1,200m (4,000 feet) above sea level. The
construction of the highway at that elevation will involve the clearing
of at leat 2,700 acres of hill
forests, where 85% of it is virgin tropical rain forest. It will cut
across most of the headwater and catchments of the main rivers in the states
of Perak, Pahang and Selangor, therefore threatening the supply of water
from 21 river basins around the area.
At present, we already have enough roads leading
to the 3 main hill resorts, do we need another one? Do we want to
destroy our natural water resources and have another round of water rationing
exercise in the years ahead? Do we want our children to pay a hefty
price for the supply of distilled water in the near future? Will
waterfalls only exist in man-made gardens in the year 2020?
Is the construction of the highland
highway justifiable to our needs? In other words, is it necessary?
Come and decide for yourself and your children.
***********
Dear fellow MNS members,
The HRR signature count is not moving.
People are starting to forget about this project. The Selangor Branch would
like to remind everyone that the project will be on once the government
have the money to move again. The project has just been shelved but not
cancelled. We do not want to be caught off guard once the government decides
to go on with it.
Therefore, the awareness of the project
is important. More citizens of Malaysia need to know about this project.
Since the media are barred from reports about it, we need to educate the
public ourselves. We have prepared the slides and transparencies
for a 30 minute talk and we are all ready for a road show. All you
have to do at your branch level are:
- Mark the date, time and venue for the talk
- bring a friend
each to join us at the talk
- sign the Letter of Appeal
- pass the word
around
Tham Chee Wah
Back to 1999 May Newsletter index
[
Back to MNS Perak Home ]
Created on 26th April 1999.