Environmental impact study 'a must for projects'
Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR — All development projects, including those near the Zoo Negara, needed environment impact assessment (EIA) approval before they were Implemented, Prime Minister Datuk Sen Dr Mahathlr Mohamad said yesterday.
As long as a project did not have approval from the EIA study undertaken by expert groups, it could not be implemented, he added.
"It all depends on the EIA whether the project is within the law," he said after performing the ground-breaking ceremony for Menara Kuala Lumpur at Bukit Nenas here.
The mace-shaped Menara Tower, scheduled for completion in 1995, would serve as a communications-link centre.
The Prime Minister declined to comment on the statement by the Sultan of Selangor on Thursday that he was not in favour of the golf course project at Kampung Kemensah, near the zoo, on the grounds that it might affect the quality of the environment in the area.
Yesterday, the Sultan again voiced his opposition, saying that he would reject his monthly royal allowance of M$24,000 (S$14,900) If the Selangor government went ahead with the project.
Dr Mahathir said that every development project in the country should take into account environmental factors, and reports by expert groups should be given serious consideration.
"Assumptions that there will be pollution by people not assigned the task of making the assessment should not be taken as guidance," he added.
If certain people were dissatisfied with certain groups on the environment issue, then they probably had other alms or interests, he noted.
Asked whether the M$250-million tower might be seen as a waste of funds by some people, he said: "If we are too preoccupied with such talk from people, then we can’t do anything."
The Premier said that he had been assured that the Menara project, to be the tallest in South-east Asia and the third tallest in the world, would not pose a hazard to air traffic.
The trees around the project site would not be felled unless they obstructed the project, he added.
The 420-rn-tall tower to be built on 4.4 ha of land would house telecommunication equipment for all overseas and domestic services as well as data and picture transmission services.
Other facilities would Include a revolving restaurant and handicraft shops for tourists.
The project was being undertaken by a consortium, Menara Kuala Lumpur Sdn Berhad, in collaboration with the German firm of Wayss & Freytag. — Bernama.
Source : The Straits Times, 5th October 1991
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