S'wak CM wants 'Big Six' to account for every log
Published on: Sunday, March 22, 2015
KUCHING: Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem has told six major timber corporations in Sarawak to account for every log they fell from their concession areas. "The State Government will issue a circular to timber licence holders, including the six, on the steps they must follow," he said at the launch of the State-level World Forestry Day at the State Legislative Assembly here, Saturday. He said every tree and log the firms cut must be accounted for to facilitate checking by the Forestry Department's enforcement officers.
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He told the bosses of the "Big Six" firms to keep watch over their contractors, subcontractors and workers, and to make sure they do not log outside their concession areas. "Sack them if they go outside the areas," he told the company heads who were seated at the front row during the event. The six major timber companies include KTS Holdings Sdn Bhd, RH Forest Corporation Sdn Bhd, Samling Group, Shin Yang Group, Tan Ann Group, and WTK Holdings Bhd. The concessionaires own hundreds of thousands of hectares of land for logging in Sarawak. Adenan also roped in the six corporations to join the anti-illegal logging task force headed by Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.
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"I want you to join this task force. I want a 'yes' for the answer," he told the six, who included RH Forest Corporation Executive Chairman Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King, KTS Holdings Sdn Bhd Chief Executive Officer Datuk Henry Lau and Tan Ann Group Executive Chairman Datuk Hamed Sepawi. The Chief Minister said the firms must join to fight against widespread illegal logging, which has cost the State Government billions of ringgit worth of losses over the last three decades.
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Last year, Adenan described the timber industry as the most corrupt in Sarawak, alleging that bribes were often offered to government officers. He has stopped issuing new timber licences, cut down on the number of existing licences and stopped alienating state land for plantation companies. Yesterday (Satyurday), Adenan urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) to start investigating into the illegal felling of trees at the Simalanjau National Park in Bintulu. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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