KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 — All forest activities across the peninsular including hiking, camping or jungle trekking are not permitted during the conditional movement control order (CMCO) period.
Peninsular Malaysia Forestry Department Director of Forest Eco-Parks and State Forest Parks Mohd Yussainy Md Yusop said the ban is because those activities are included in the list of prohibited activities by the National Security Council (NSC) under Article 17 of Forest Management.
“Article 17 of Forest Management does not permit activities related to forest ecotourism and forestry training. This restriction includes activities such as hiking, waterfalls trail, or any other extreme sports in the forest including in eco-parks.
“I hope the public will respect the decision made by the government although there is a high demand requesting that it be reopened for public after its closure since the movement control order (MCO) came into force,” he told Bernama.
Mohd Yussainy said the restriction includes both group and individual activities.
“When many small groups start entering the forest, this will end up creating a large group. As such, this situation is difficult to control, especially since forests have a higher risk of accidents occurring,” he said.
Mohd Yussainy said anyone who fails to comply with this prohibition could be prosecuted under the National Forestry Act, Section 47 (1) and the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988.
Some 113 eco-parks and 14 state parks located throughout the Peninsular are under the supervision of the department.
— Bernama
