Farewell Johor's Ramsar sites (updated)

Back in November 2013, I asked,

Will Johor government protect Ramsar sites?

That's because I had earlier heard they were going to develop the area and I pleaded

 PM Najib, please save the Ramsar sites in Johor

Then nothing happened.

The Ramsar sites remained as they were except for some minor problems.

For a while I thought I had done some good there. That they heard my pleading and questioning and decided to let the Ramsar sites be.

But of course it's not true as mine is just an insignificant anonymous blog.

Most likely it's the authorities back then who changed their own mind over the whole thing.

I have to admit that I didn't keep much attention to the matter after that, especially now that Pakatan Harapan had taken over Johor.

With all its claim of being environmentally friendly, I thought there should be no worries over the Ramsar sites anymore.

Then by chance, someone alerted me of this story this morning,

Pulau Kukup to change from national

 park to Sultanate land, says TMJ

excerpts 1

He claimed that the island, one of the few pristine wetlands in South-East Asia, will be "better protected" after its status is changed from national park to Sultanate land.

“In the past, several national parks were privatised but in Johor, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar has a different vision.

“To better protect all national parks, Sultan Ibrahim decreed that all the national parks be changed to Sultanate land,” he tweeted.

excerpts 2

Lawyers for Liberty has asked why the stripping of national park status was done "silently", without any public announcement, until the gazette was leaked online.

The group's advisor, N. Surendran, noted that the island was originally gazetted as a national park in 1997 by the then Barisan state government.

"By de-gazetting, the Pakatan state government is proving that they are even worse than Barisan in terms of environmental preservation and protection," he said.

excerpts 3

Renowned as the world's second largest uninhabited mangrove island, it is one of five Ramsar sites in Malaysia.

Ramsar sites are wetland sites accorded international importance under the United Nations’ Convention on Wetlands.

I was like, WTF is going on.

So I called my friend who is in the know in Johor and he told me that it's all true.

In fact he said the other Johor's Ramsar sites at Sungai Pulai and Tanjong Piai had also been de-gezzetted and earmarked for "development".

I have to say that I'm very sad over this latest development.

I once visited Pulau Kukup with my beloved 

I was wrong after all when I wrote this,

"Honestly, I have nothing personal against Osman, but if he becomes MB I believe it is going to be business as usual in Johor....not better."

at this post,

Osman Sapian is the leading Johor MB candidate

right after GE14.

Ya, it's actually worse.

As what those Lawyers for Liberty said.

UPDATES (at 07:03 on Dec 6 2018)

My friend in Johor just now forwarded this statement by the State Land and Mineral director dated Dec 4, 2018,

LAPORAN ATAS BERITA BERKAITAN ISU PEMBATALAN WARTA PEMBATALAN
PERIZABAN TAMAN NEGARA PULAU KUKUP

1. Tanah PTD 4024 seluas 636.2660 hektar (1,572 ekar) Mukim Ayer Masin,
Pontian telah diwartakan sebagai Taman Negara Johor Pulau Kukup oleh
Perbadanan Taman Negara Johor sebagaimana WKJ Bil 561 bertarikh 27
Mac 1997.

2. Di atas keseluruhan tanah adalah hutan pokok bakau semulajadi yang
diselenggara oleh Perbadanan Taman Negara Johor meliputi jeti
pendaratan, balai pelawat, menara peninjau, laluan penjalan kaki dan
bangunan pentadbiran.

3. Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Johor di mesyuaratnya pada 7.3.2018
sebagaimana R/M Bil 443/2018 telah mengambil keputusan sebagaimana
berikut:
i. BERSETUJU tanah PTD 4024 seluas 636.2660 hektar (1,572 ekar)
Mukim Ayer Masin, Pontian dikurniakan kepada DULI YANG MAHA
MULIA SULTAN IBRAHIM IBNI ALMARHUM SULTAN ISKANDAR.
ii. BERSETUJU Warta Kerajaan Bil 561 bertarikh 27.3.1997 sebagai
Taman Negara Johor Pulau Kukup DIBATALKAN.

4. Pembatalan Warta Perizaban Taman Negara ini adalah bagi tujuan
mendaftarkan hakmilik atas nama DULI YANG MAHA MULIA SULTAN
IBRAHIM IBNI ALMARHUM SULTAN ISKANDAR.

5. Lanjutan daripada keputusan tersebut, warta pembatalan rizab telah
disiarkan dalam Warta Kerajaan Negeri Johor Bil 3808 bertarikh
25.10.2018 dan seterusnya hakmilik atas nama DULI YANG MAHA MULIA
SULTAN IBRAHIM IBNI ALMARHUM SULTAN ISKANDAR telah didaftarkan
pada 29.10.2018.

6. Surat pemakluman berhubung keputusan MMK tersebut juga telah
dipanjangkan kepada Pengarah Perbadanan Taman Negara Johor
sebagaimana surat pentadbiran ini bertarikh 5.8.2018.

7. Draf Rang Pembatalan Perizaban Tanah Bagi Taman Negara di bawah
Enakmen Perbadanan Taman Negara (Johor) 1989 telah disemak dan
dipinda oleh Y.B. Penasihat Undang-Undang Negeri Johor sebagaimana
surat bertarikh 6.8.2018.

8. Walaupun pembatalan rizab Taman Negara Johor Pulau Kukup telah
diwartakan dan seterusnya pendaftaran hakmilik tanah tersebut kepada
DULI YANG MAHA MULIA SULTAN IBRAHIM IBNI ALMARHUM SULTAN
ISKANDAR telah disempurnakan, , ianya dipercayai tidak akan
menjejaskan fungsi-fungsi Taman Negara Pulau Kukup sedia ada yang
diselenggara oleh Perbadanan Taman Negara Johor selaras dengan hasrat
DULI YANG MAHA MULIA SULTAN IBRAHIM IBNI ALMARHUM SULTAN
ISKANDAR semasa menitahkan PTG untuk memproses dan membawa
kepada pertimbangan Pihak Berkuasa Negeri atas permohonan kurniaan
tanah tersebut.

PENGARAH TANAH DAN GALIAN,
JOHOR
4 DISEMBER 2018

Okay, let me go through this one in simple English. If the Land and Mineral director was not lying, these are what he basically said;

1. Johor BN government under TS Abdul Ghani Othman gazetted Pulau Kukup as part of the State National Park on March 27 1997.
- Yay, I'm a Ghani's fan. He's a good guy. This whole shit would not have happened if he is still the Johor MB. But the current Sultan of Johor doesn't like him very much, and most people know that.

2. Johor BN government with DS Khaled Nordin as MB made the decision to give the land to Sultan of Johor on March 7 2018.
- So, my suspicion that something was not right with Khaled's administration since he took over in 2013 was right. Read back my posts from back then if you don't believe me. The links were at the start of this post.

3. The de-gazetting of Pulau Kukup was on Oct 25 2018 and officially given to the Sultan on Oct 29 2018.
- Well, Pakatan took over Johor on May 9 2018. So, that dastardly Khaled's BN administration made the decision to give Pulau Kukup to the Sultan in March, then Osman Sapian's Pakatan administration actually de-gazetted and handed the island over to the Sultan in October. See, I told you all that nothing change. Actually which is worse, deciding to give away the island or actually giving away the island?

4. The letter which convey the decision to de-gazette Pulau Kukup was given to the Johor National Park director on Aug 5 2018 and the draft to de-gazette the island was checked and edited by the State Legal Advisor on Aug 8 2018.
- And the exco said the Pakatan's Johor government didn't know anything about it before the whole mess went viral. Come on la. Land and mineral affairs come directly under the MB's  office the last time I checked. Eh, and anything done after Pakatan took over Johor on May 9 is Pakatan's doing. They know the whole thing was bad yet they carried on with it. Why?

5. The State Land and Mineral director said "ianya dipercayai" (it is believed to be) that the whole thing is going to be fine.
- So, that's the rationale of the Pakatan's State government.,,,,okay, never mind. I don't want to continue further because if I do then this post could be deemed as seditious and I would most likely end up in jail. So that's that.
 Ciao.