Logging picking up pace despite coming under Putrajaya radar

Logging activities by a Malaysian oil palm company near the Mulu National Park have intensified despite its concession coming under Putrajaya's radar.

"Penan and Berawan community reports received by us state that the loggers have increased the pressure on the forest in an apparent attempt to create facts on the ground before politicians will stop them," said Swiss-based conservation activist group Bruno Manser Fonds (BMF).

Yesterday, Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok said she was very concerned by the developments near the Mulu National Park in Sarawak but noted that land matters fell under the jurisdiction of the state.

As such, Kok said, she had conveyed her concerns to Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah Embas and expected the state government to take action.

"As land is a state matter, I am counting on the state government to take the appropriate measures to resolve the matter in the interest of the state, the indigenous people and our national sustainability agenda," she had said.

BMF said local communities have also lodged a police report against the company for the alleged desecration of a 300-year-old gravesite within the concession area, a Unesco World Heritage site.

The Borneo Post also reported that Mulu villagers from Bateu Bungan, Long Terawan and Kampung Melinau have written to Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg to express their concern about the destruction of their forests by oil palm companies.

BMF also called on the Sarawak government to revoke the concessionaire to preserve the rainforest there, which the local indigenous communities rely upon.

A petition calling for the termination of the concession, addressed to Abang Johari and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohaamd, has garnered more than 18,000 signatures at the time of writing.