Illegal loggers, particularly those alleged to have connection to shady underworld dealings, have been a bane of the Sarawak Forestry Corporation’s (SFC) existence for years.
Well, not anymore if Santubong MP Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar’s game-changing proposal is thrashed out, and executed.
He wants SFC to call for back-up from the army and the boys in blue to help stem the perennial problem of encroachment where shadowy figures have been known to log timber in the Samunsam Wildfire Sanctuary in Lundu District.
The sanctuary covers an area of about 16,700ha and is some 100km from here.
Wan Junaidi says he has lodged reports on such activities to the police and SFC some time ago after learning that Samunsam, the state’s oldest wildlife sanctuary, had been encroached on and logged for its timber in recent years.
“The law is there to protect the area but enforcement must be carried out. SFC needs to get the army and police to assist it to stop the encroachment and harvesting of timber and other wildlife in Samunsam.
“If the army and police are afraid of gangsters, I don’t know who else can govern the country. That should not be an excuse,” he told The Star here recently.
Wan Junaidi, a former policeman, said the army and police had fought the communists and protected the country from grave danger in the 1960s and therefore, was confident that they could combat gangsterism.
“In the past, we chased after communists in the jungles, but now the gangsters are there — they are not hiding. I can’t accept the excuse that because of gangsterism, we can’t enforce the law.
“So what else next? Are we to allow gangsters to rule the country because they are gangsters?” he pointed out.
He added that the present timber industry needed to play its part in stopping illegal logging by going for high value-added products instead of high volume of raw timber.
Wan Junaidi said while he understood the concerns of local conservationists on the plan to build the 23km road cutting across the sanctuary to connect Telok Melano and Telok Serabang from Kampung Pueh in Sematan Sub-District, the infrastructure was pivotal for the well-being of the villagers.
“In every positive thing we do, there will be negative impacts. We build roads, there will be accidents. So are we to stop building roads? Are we to stop people from buying and driving cars and motorcycles?”
He conceded that the proposed road would give easier access to poachers and illegal loggers to Samunsam than now but with stringent enforcement, the sanctuary would be protected.
“Even now without the road, Samunsam is being disturbed. That’s why enforcement is important. The law is there and it must be observed and enforced, otherwise it is useless,” he reiterated.
Presently, to reach Telok Melano, located near the tip of the state in Tanjong Datu, one has to take an hour’s boat ride.
The proposed road would also eventually bring electricity supply and treated water to the fishing village which also provided homestays for visitors, said Wan Junaidi.
It would be a boon to the tourism industry in the area, known for its pristine beaches between Lundu and Sematan, he said.
He had spoken to Special Functions Minister and Tanjong Datu assemblyman Tan Sri Adenan Satem recently that the project had been approved by the state government and now awaiting funding from the Federal Government for implementation.
“I was told verbally that the Chief Minister has also given the green light for the road to cut across Samunsam,” he said, stating that Samunsam’s status as a protected area was one of the reasons the project took a long time for approval.
Last year, the Malaysian Nature Society, through its Kuching branch, had voiced its concern on the proposed project as the road would provide easy access to poachers, which would be detrimental to wildlife conservation in the sanctuary.
The society had said if the proposed project was deemed essential, it strongly urged the relevant authorities to ensure that a detailed environmental impact assessment (EIA) be done prior to giving the final approval.
It also urged the state government to make the draft of this detailed EIA available for public review and that steps would be taken to ensure consultation with all the relevant stakeholders, including SFC and State Forest Department, local communities, and concerned NGOs, to explore other viable options that would not be detrimental to an already beleaguered sanctuary.
The last known operation against illegal loggers was in 2006 when 15 SFC officers, assisted by General Operations Force personnel, investigated two areas in Samunsam — Sungai Limo and Kampung Serabang on April 17.
They found traces of illegal logging, and having determined the modus operandi of the culprits, continued their probe the following day but at nearby Ulu Sungai Samunsam Buta.
This time, the team chanced upon two men in the act of cutting down trees.
They were subsequently nabbed and two chainsaws, a machete and a homemade shotgun were confiscated.
General manager Wilfred Landong was quoted on SFC’s website as saying the exercise was just one of the successful implementation of a holistic protection plan to ensure a more effective protection of the state’s biodiversity and forest resources, particularly in totally protected areas.
