KUALA LUMPUR: The Johor government cannot re-gazette Pulau Kukup as a national park.
Lawyers for Liberty adviser N. Surendran said since the area has been declared Sultanate land, under Section 2(1) of the Sultanate Land Enactment 1934, it cannot be considered a national asset.
“Therefore, Sultanate land cannot be considered state land and so cannot be gazetted a national park,” he said in a statement.
Surendran said the only way to get around this would be for the state to reacquire the land.
He said only state-owned land can be gazetted as a national park under National Park (Johor) Corporation Enactment 1989.
“This is based on Section 3(1) of the 1989 Enactment which says that the state authorities can keep any land for the purpose of a national park,” he said.
The state government had before this given its assurances that Pulau Kukup would remain untouched and would remain a national park despite it being gazetted as Sultanate land.
On Wednesday, Pagoh member of parliament Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had stressed that Pulau Kukup should stay a national park and not be declared Sultanate land.
Tunku Temenggong Johor, Tunku Idris Iskandar Sultan Ibrahim, however, said in an Instagram posting today that the royal family would ensure that no development would be allowed on Pulau Kukup, which is in the Pontian district of the state.
Tunku Idris, who is also the Royal Patron of Johor National Parks, said this was one of the priorities and missions of the royal family, to ensure the protection of all forests, mangroves and corals in the state.