We had a good meeting with YB Dato Hamidah Osman together with various government agencies on 29th Sept.
This is the first meeting in regards to Kinta Nature Park to formulate a good solution. A press conference was held immediately after the meeting and YB Dato Hamidah Osman has publicly announced below decisions;
1. MNS proposed area of 900 hectars of Kinta Nature Park will be fully gazetted.
2. The park will be renamed to “Perak Nature Park- Bird Sanctuary” or “Taman Alam Perak Bird Sanctuary”.
3. The park will be managed and funded by Perak State Park Corporation.
4. MNS will serve as partner in the management and conservation of the park.
5. The State Park Corporation will be given three weeks to draft the management plan proposal for presentation in the upcoming state EXCO meeting as part of the process of gazettement.
6. The park is scheduled to will be fully operational by end 2009, utilizing state’s 2009 budget.
7. All duck farms and sand mining activities in Zone One of the park have to be stopped immediately. Enforcement to secure back park’s boundary will start this week.
8. Economic activities in Zone Two and Three will be outlawed in stages. Notices will be issued to duck farms in these zones immediately.
9. Perak Nature Park- Bird Sanctuary will be put in the same category with Belum, Gua Tempurung and Bukit Larut managed by State Park Corporation. They will be heavily promoted for ecotourism.
10. A Memorandum of Understanding will be signed by MNS, Department of Wildlife and National Park & State Park Corporation soon for the management of the park.
Quite a mouthful of words. It should be either in English or Malay. Why can’t the name “Kinta” be retained? At least it narrows down the location. There may be another “Perak” park somewhere out there in future. Why not Kinta Wetland?
my two sen worth