Illegal loggers in Sarawak to face heavier penalties under amended ordinance

MIRI: Sarawak will impose heavier penalties against illegal loggers once an amendment to the forestry ordinance is passed in the State Legislative Assembly sitting next month.

Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem said the amendment would be to increase and enhance the penalty imposed including a higher amount of compound the details of which would be furnished during the tabling of the amendment.

"Under the new amendment, those caught in possession of illegally fell logs must explain how they had obtained the log," he told reporters at a news conference here today.

It was reported recently that under the present forest ordinance, the maximum penalty was only RM200 compound for every tonne of timber seized and no imprisonment was provided for.

Adenan said the burden of proof would be solely in the hands of the suspects in possession of illegal logs to prove that they were not involved in such activities to avoid further legal action.

Earlier Adenan attended a closed-door dialogue with enforcement officers from the Sarawak Forest Department at a hotel here.
Adenan warned Sarawak Forest Department and Sarawak Forestry Corporation staff who refused, ignored and cooperated with illegal syndicates that they faced disciplinary action, if found to do so.

"And in some cases these staff would be referred to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for further actions," he said.

He said the fight against illegal logging had achieved some degree of success but more needed to be done especially from members of the public to give information to the relevant authorities.

Meanwhile, Sarawak Forest Department Director Sapuan Ahmad said as of Feb 27, 2015, 29 suspects involved in illegal logging had been identified and seven investigation papers had been forwarded to the state Attorney-General for prosecution process while two investigation papers would be submitted next week.
"A total of 51 cases of illegal logging had been registered in the same period and a total of 15,655 logs had been seized worth RM5.9 million," he said. – Bernama