Expand existing roads, not cut through reserves, says Shafie
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SABAH has urged Putrajaya to expand existing roads in the state instead of cutting through forest reserves in the ongoing Pan Borneo Highway works.
This is to avoid destroying wildlife habitat and costing more, said Chief Minister Shafie Apdal.
He said the state government was aware of the possible human-wildlife conflict if the highway is built through Class 1 forest reserves, destroying the wildlife’s natural habitat.
Shafie said instead of making a new, tedious alignment for the road, the project would be more easily carried out if it was built using the present roads in Sabah.
“This is part of the concerns I have raised with the authorities (Putrajaya). I hope they take it seriously.
“We should not flatten hills and chop down trees which will be of no good for the environment and also the state wildlife,” he told reporters after launching the Heart of Borneo Conference in Kota Kinabalu today.
Sabah wildlife experts have warned of the human-wildlife conflict arising from cutting through forest reserves to make way for the RM29 billion Pan Borneo Highway project.
Several areas identified as part of the project will affect Sabah wildlife such as pygmy elephants, sun bears, proboscis monkeys, and clouded leopards in Telupid and Kota Belud. – March 21, 2019.