The Star 26 Oct 09;
KUALA LUMPUR: Enforcement activities to prevent illegal logging, unauthorised settlement and other offences are lax in Sarawak, revealed the Auditor-General’s Report 2008.
It found that between 2006 and last year, 668 offences were detected, of which 558 were illegal logging.
Between 2006 and 2008, the audit found 94,008sq metres of forest were illegally logged, yielding 272,588 timber logs costing RM2.3mil. In 2006, only 29,179 logs were taken.
“Audit analysis on illegal logging and other offences found that the numbers continued to increase year after year,” it said.
However, the report also found that the state forestry department faced manpower shortage.
It said that out of 88 rangers, only 48 were able to carry out enforcement work. “The rest have not been supplied with safety equipment such as firearms and training in enforcement and security,” it added. It also said the target to achieve at least six million hectares of permanent forest reserve and one million hectares of fully protected forest in Sarawak would not be met unless the state government gazetted forest areas that need to be replaced following logging activities.
Extent of damage to ecosystem can be seen from northern to central parts of Sarawak
Stephen Then The Star 26 Oct 09;
MIRI: The Auditor-General’s report detailing poor forest-management in Sarawak is certainly an eye-opener, but the report has merely scraped the surface of the actual extent of the massive environmental damage that overlogging and oil-palm projects have caused in rural Sarawak.
The extent of damage to the ecosystem can be seen from northern Sarawak all the way to the central parts of the state, and it is not only the non-governmental bodies that are up in arms over these woes, but also village community leaders, members of Parliament and state assemblymen from Barisan Nasional.
The Star had during various trips into the remote areas also found rivers, hills, valley basins and mountain slopes being badly affected by blatant land clearing, timber extraction and construction of logging trails.
Many rivers have become so polluted by mud debris from logging activities that they are no longer fit for use for cooking and drinking.
Rivers running through oil-palm estates have been poisoned by pesticides and palm oil effluents while erosion and siltation have resulted in constant floods that threatened tens of thousands of people.
The latest Auditor-General’s report named Sarawak, Pahang, Johor and Kelantan as the states that had fared badly in terms of forest management and enforcement of environmental laws.
The report said that these states are suffering serious degradation to their forests and environment that had caused severe increase in erosion, river degradation, landslides, destruction of flora and fauna and depletion of animal habitats.
The report also said that due to the lack of enforcement by the forest authorities, illegal logging had even been found in national parks and forests reserves.
Though the report did not mention specific areas in these states that are ravaged by environmental woes, The Star found many such places in Sarawak.
In the Lambir constituency south of Miri, rivers are so badly polluted by land clearing and oil-palm projects, riverine villagers have sounded alarm bells.
These woes were also brought up for discussion among political leaders during a meeting here.
State assemblyman Aidan Wing said villagers had complained that effluent from oil-palm estates was being dumped into nearby rivers.
“We (villagers) cannot rely on the rivers for drinking and cooking anymore because the water has been too seriously contaminated.
“The rivers were the main source of water for thousands of people. Now, these rivers are no longer safe. The villages need piped water supply from the water treatment plant.
“During the drought, thousands of people had to seek help from the Public Works Department to transport fresh water,” he said.
Wing appealed to State Public Utilities Minister Datuk Seri Awang Tengah Ali Hassan to seek funds to connect every longhouse and riverine settlements to the JKR Water Treatment plant in Lambir.
In the northern interior of Baram, its MP Datuk Jacob Dungau Sagan had also lamented the extent of erosion along the mighty Baram River caused by logging.
“More than 25,000 people living along the river and its tributaries are affected by floods because of the erosion.
“They may have to be relocated to safer grounds,” he said.
In Kapit, Ulu Rejang MP Datuk Billy Abit Joo said the once-beautiful rivers that run through his constituency have become rivers of mud because of the logging operations.
Lusong Laku Penan chief Tinggan Jati complained that the amount of sand and mud in the river had rendered these sources of water unfit for even washing.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) field officer for Sarawak, Jok Jau Evong, called on the Sarawak Forestry Corporation to be more efficient in stopping illegal logging and abuse of wildlife.
He said SAM had received complaints from natives living in the Mulu National Park that illegal logging was happening along the borders of this World Heritage Site.
Jok urged the state government to take a serious view of the AG’s report and take appropriate actions to remedy the problems cited in the report.
