KUANTAN: The sessions court here today sentenced an Indonesian man a total of eight months’ jail after he pleaded guilty to encroaching into a forest reserve area and operating a mobile sawmill without a permit.
Judge Siti Aminah Ghazali sentenced Amirudin, 55, to three months’ jail for operating an illegal sawmill and five months’ jail for encroaching into the forest reserve area.
She ordered the man to serve the jail sentences concurrently from the date of arrest, which was Jan 31.
Amirudin was charged with illegally operating the mobile sawmill at 12.15pm on Jan 31 at Compartment 129 of the Bukit Ibam Forest Reserve here.
The charge, under Section 3(3) of the Wood-Based Industry Enactment (Pahang) 1985, provides a maximum fine of RM25,000 or imprisonment of up to two years, or both, if found guilty.
The second charge, on encroaching into the forest area at the same time and place, was made under Section 47(1) of the National Forestry Act 1984, which provides a maximum fine of RM10,000, or imprisonment of up to three years, or both, if found guilty.
In mitigation, Amirudin who was unrepresented said he has a family to support in Indonesia, but the prosecution, conducted by deputy public prosecutor from the Peninsular Malaysia Forestry Department, Mason Jaro Lenya Barayan requested for a punishment to serve as a lesson to the accused and the general public.
According to the facts of the case, Amirudin was arrested during an operation by the Pahang Forestry Department. He was then at the wheel of a forklift, believed to be used to carry timber to a mobile sawmill in the area. — Bernama
