By Norrasyidah Arshad
SHAH ALAM, March 14 — The state government has been urged to extend the logging moratorium, in place since 2010, for 25 years to ensure natural resources can be sustained.
Subang Jaya state assemblyman Michelle Ng Mei Sze said the state administration should consider new methods to generate income, instead of overtly relying on natural resources.
To this, she proposed the production of a carbon credit system which can be sold to companies or other countries.
“Carbon credits are generated through projects that can reduce carbon from the atmosphere. The forest’s function can balance the production of carbon, and can be sold,” Ng said during the motion to discuss the royal speech by the Sultan of Selangor, at the State Legislative Assembly sitting, earlier today.
She also recommended the state government’s jurisdiction be discussed and reviewed, so as to tackle climate change more seriously.
Ng said most of Selangor’s income sources depend on activities that are detrimental to the environment, like mining and logging.
“At the end of 2021, Selangor experienced floods which caused RM3.1 billion in losses. Then in December last year, a landslide occurred in Batang Kali which was caused by soil saturation and the underground water reservoir under the campsite.
“These two incidents are a window into the continuous disasters that can occur, if drastic action is not taken to deal with climate change,” she said.
