|
 Monday,
10 March 2003
Illegal loggers plunder State land
by Ridzwan Abdullah
 PEKAN,
Pahang State ,Mar 9: Some 65 hectares of State land was found cleared by illegal
loggers near the Chini Forest Reserve and near Kampung Melayu Sulong here.
By the time State Forestry enforcement officers made the discovery on Friday,
a substantial number of logs had been extracted.
Among the species felled were meranti, seraya and keruing, valued at more than
RM150,000, a forestry department source said today. The officers' arrival,
however, prevented the logs from being taken out.
A forestry official said no arrests were made as the loggers had fled the area.
He said about 65 logs were found stacked and ready to be shipped out of the two
areas.
"About 50ha had been cleared near the forest reserve. We later found that
another 15ha had been cleared near Kampung Melayu Sulong, with about 50 logs
stacked." Forestry officers believe the logs were to be sold to sawmill
operators in Segamat, Johor, and Bahau in Negri Sembilan.
The source added that the extraction seemed to be the work of skilled loggers.
"We have stationed several officers at these two areas and they will take
turns to monitor the situation around the clock." The seized logs will be
sent to the depot in Belimbing, Kuantan.
| |
Advertisement
|
MTC’s
