By Norrasyidah Arshad
SHAH ALAM, Aug 1 — The tourism development plan in the northern part of Selangor will not involve the degazettement of the permanent forest reserve there, said state executive councillor for tourism Hee Loy Sian.
He said the plan which involved the granting of a land use permit to build an international-class hotel will attract tourists and boost the local economy.
“In Kuala Selangor and Sekinchan there are no five-star hotels, so tourists have to stay in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur, thus not bringing any economic impact to the areas.
“There is a company that wanted to invest, so we issued a land use permit to build the hotel. No forest reserve will be degazetted and the development project will not affect the areas,” he said during the Selangor State Legislative Assembly here today.
Hee said this to answer a supplementary question from Bukit Melawati state assemblyman Juwairiya Zulkifli on the development project in Kuala Selangor.
He said the issuance of land use permits for the tourism industry was not only practised by Selangor but also in other states such as Langkawi in Kedah, Rompin in Pahang and Bakut in Sarawak.
