Malaysia: Second bribery bid foiled in relation to mangrove thefts

The Star 3 Feb 12;

BARELY a month after an individual was caught for allegedly trying to bribe the Selangor Forestry Department enforcement assistant director Mohd Yussainy Md Yusop for mangrove thefts, another businessman has been arrested for a similar offence.

Last week, the authorities nabbed the businessman who had offered a bribe of RM42,200 to both the Forestry Department officer and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).

The bribe was an inducement to release the seized logs.

In the raid, the Forestry Department, MMEA and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission seized eight Indonesian-registered boats ferrying 11,166 logs, estimated to be worth RM110,000 and detained 34 people.

Two weeks ago, a suspected mastermind had approached Yussainy and asked if he would accept RM3,000 to release some 110 cut mangrove logs (3.5m to 4m long), a wooden boat, a boat engine and a barrel of fuel that were seized during a raid off Pulau Klang Forest Reserve and Telok Gong Forest Reserve.

Yussainy said they would go all out to stop the stealing of mangrove logs in Port Klang and the surrounding islands.

“About 5.82 million trees were felled over the last 10 years causing a huge damage to the environment and fishing grounds.

“Today, the islands in Selangor and the coastal areas are starting to recover but these thieves continue to cut the trees.

As a result, trees are being felled more than they are planted,” he said.