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 13 December 2003
Big seizure of illegal logs in national parkBY STEPHEN THENMIRI, Dec 13: The Forestry Department has seized more than 7,000 timber logs, said to be illegally extracted from a national park in northern Sarawak. The seizure was made by the department’s Security and Asset Protection Unit (Sapu) at the Loagan Bunut National Park in Miri Division, which is home to the largest fresh-water lake in the state. Sapu general manager Sani Bakar confirmed the seizure, saying that as of 3pm yesterday, the number of illegal logs confiscated had exceeded 7,000 tree trunks. “We have yet to make any arrests. Our team of 12 enforcement officers is still inside the national park. “We have detected about 20 workers at the site, believed to be involved in the timber extraction. “We (Sapu officers) are trying to get more details from these workers,” he said, adding that the value of the bounty would amount to at least RM1.4mil. Bakar, who flew here from his headquarters in Kuching, said the raid was the single largest successful anti-illegal logging bust in Sarawak. The logs were seized after they were transported to a log pond, he said. Bakar said the area where the illegal logging was taking place was detected with the use of satellite imaging. “Satellite images were used to identify the affected areas. Analysis were then made followed by ground verification,” he said, adding that the seized logs did not have any property markings on them. Bakar said the enforcement team had to use helicopters to reach the site, which is located inside very dense jungles and swamps. Asked when the team would finish the investigation or make arrests, he said it might take up to next week to complete on-the-ground investigation because of the quantity and size of the timber logs. On whether any foreign loggers were found during the Loagan Bunut raid, he said so far the enforcement team had only detected locals. Bakar said the Sapu enforcers had seized some 1,000 logs in another raid in Simunjan in southern Sarawak, on Wednesday. Last week, the unit busted anillegal logging camp in Belaga, central Sarawak, also with the use of satellite imaging, he added. |
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