Amendments to three enactments passed
Published on: Friday, April 22, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: AMENDMENTS made to three enactments were passed on the last day of the State Legislative Assembly sitting on Thursday.It involved the State Honours (Amendment) Enactment 2016, Forest (Amendment) Enactment 2016 and Korporasi Pembangunan Desa Sabah (Amendment) Enactment 2016.State Speaker Datuk Syed Abas Syed Ali announced the passing of the three bills after majority of the Assembly members had no objection to the amendments.
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Under the Forest (Amendment) Enactment 2016, the Director of the State Forestry Department will be known as the 'Chief Conservator'.Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Ellron Angin, who tabled the bill, said the amendment also included substituting the titles of Deputy Director to the 'Deputy Chief Conservator' and any Senior Assistant Director of Forestry to be substituted to 'Conservator of Forests' as well as the Assistant Director of Forestry to be substituted to 'Assistant Conservator of Forests'.He said this amendment would come into operation on Jan 1, 2017 and this will not involve any extra financial expenditure."Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) has been the main function of the State Forestry Department now and for the next 20 years the aspect of conservation and preservation would be given priority.
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"Hence, the title name of the Forestry Director needs to be changed to Chief Conservator of Forests to be in tandem with the mission of the Sabah Forestry Department," he said.Ellron told the House that the Director of Forestry was used in 1988 following an amendment made to the Forest Enactment 1968 (No. 2 Year 1968) and the then Sabah Forest Department was substituted to Sabah Forestry Department and headed by its Director of Forestry. The title of 'Conservator of Forests' was not used at that time.
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He said time has changed the function of the department that was before 1997 prone to harvesting the forests and collecting royalty tax.However, now, he said, the department has changed its main function towards SFM that emphasised on the preservation and conservation.During the second reading, Sabah Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (SBNBC) Chairman Datuk Abdul Rahim, who fully supported the amendment, said it is timely.He said the State Government is committed to increase the number of Totally Protected Areas (TPAs) by 30 per cent by 2025 and cited the commendable track record of the State Government under the leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman in managing the forest reserves through the SFM approach.DAP's Kapayan Assemblyman Dr Edwin Bosi also supported the amendment, praising the State Government for taking forest conservation efforts seriously.At this juncture, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said the State Government had banned logging activities in three forest reserves such as the Malua Forest Reserve and Kalumpang Forest Reserve.He said Sabah was prepared to lose billions of ringgit when logging activities were banned because the State Government felt it was more important to conserve and preserve the forests.A second bill to amend the State Honours Enactment 1963 now cited as the State Honours (Amendment) Enactment 2016 was also passed. It will provide for more people to be awarded the 'Datuk Seri Panglima' and 'Datuk' honours.Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, who tabled the bill, said it sought to amend subsection 4(2) of the State Honours Enactment 1963 by increasing the maximum number of the First Grade of Darjah Yang Amat Mulia Kinabalu that carries the title 'Seri Panglima Darjah Kinabalu (S.P.D.K) from the present 180 to 200.The Second Grade of Panglima Gemilang Darjah Kinabalu (PGDK) that carries the title 'Datuk' is to be increased from the present 1,400 people to 1,600 people due to the increase in the number of eligible persons to be conferred with the title every year.Musa said this was also to be given appreciation and recognition to those who have made excellent and commendable contributions to the State.Hence, he said it would be appropriate for the State government to confer them with State honours as the Government is confident that such conferment would motivate and encourage them to continue making contributions to the country and State.Thirdly, also passed by the House was the Korporasi Pembangunan Desa Sabah (Amendment) Enactment 2016 that will come into operation on June 1, this year.Deputy Chief Minister cum Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Datuk Seri Yahya Hussin said the amendments were made under Section 5, 6, 8 and 10 under the Korporasi Pembangunan Desa Sabah Enactment 1981 (Sabah No.15 Tahun 1981) to enable the appointment of ex-officio members to the KPD Board of Directors.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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