Its all about Corruption when encroachments go undetected

The forestry knows about it but no action taken. Enviction was carried out at another peat swamp called Raja Muda Forest Reserve (north Selangor). How come Kuala Langat South Peat Swamp was the exception? MY PERCEPTION - ITS ALL ABOUT CORRUPTION! IN BOLEHLAND CORRUPTION REIGN AND LAWS ARE ONLY FOR THE POOR!!

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June 14, 2011
2,000ha of swamp forest encroached by illegal farmers
By STUART MICHAEL
Star

MORE than 200 farmers have encroached 2,000ha into the Kuala Langat South Peat Swamp Forest and only a major operation can force out the culprits.

Selangor Forestry Department assistant director (operations and enforcement) Mohd Yussainy Md Yusop said 30% of the 6,908ha of the forest reserve had been encroached.

“Each farmer plant crops at least on 10ha in the forest reserve and employ workers to take care and harvest the crops.

On June 6, the department arrested five Indonesian workers for encroaching into the reserve and planting cash crops.

There are now remanded at the Telok Panglima Garang police station.

Yussainy said the department took statements from three employers and they would be charged with trespassing.

Under the Forestry Act 1984, Yussainy said those found encroaching into forest reserves could be fined up to RM10,000 or jailed up to three years or both if found guilty.

“The profits raked in by the farmers amount to thousands of ringgit and they are willing to take the risk of being jailed or fined.

“The money that they rake from the crops like banana, soursop, papaya, sweet corn, tapioca, sweet potato, turmeric, lengkuas (galangal), ginger, serai (lemongrass) and chilli is just too good. Some of these farmers are millionaires,’’ he claimed.

He said on Oct 25 last year, the department had given notice to the farmers to move out.

“Then, the department had planted 100,000 trees of different species to let the forest regrow but it is having a tough time doing so.

“These illegal farmers sprayed poison on the young trees and planted their crops instead. This shows how bold they are and have no respect for the law.

“Some may think that having cash crops at forest reserves is not as bad as chopping down the trees. But they fail to realise that pesticides can be harmful to the surrounding forest,’’ he said.

Thumb Up for Selangor

Logging activities to be stopped

Oct 9, 2009
Star
By SALINA KHALID

THE Selangor state government will no longer issue permits for logging on government land starting Jan 1 next year.

The blanket ruling will cover all logging activities for the inland and the mangrove forests in the state.

A source had informed The Star that the state government, in its exco meeting on July 22, had decided to stop all logging for the inland forest with immediate effect, while the ruling on the mangrove forest would be enforced on Jan 1.

It means all inland forest logging activities has stopped about two months ago while logging concessionaires holding the licence to log mangrove forest along the state’s coastal area could only do so until the end of the year.

Their licences will not be renewed upon its expiration on Dec 31.

The rule, however, does not cover the clearing of privately-owned land.

Selangor Forestry Department director Dr Yunus Zakaria said the department had not issued any new licence for logging concession this year.

He said any logging being carried out were done using the licence issued since 2006. It allows them to log until the licence expires.

He added that those concessionaires who were given the licence to log (from the previous government) were still allowed to continue until their concession expires or until their logging in the area was completed.

Asked whether they could apply to renew the licence next year, Dr Yunus said they could submit their application to them and they would forward it to the state government for approval.

“We have informed them about the expiry date of their licences,” he said.

The National Forest Council had set a quota of 1970ha of forest that could be logged for timber in Selangor.

The figure is the maximum area that could be harvested for timber every year.

However, Dr Yunus said the actual logging allowed through the licence approval was less than that of the quota by the National Forest Council.

When asked about the logging this year, he said it was much less and not even a quarter of the quoted figure allowed for harvesting.

“There are seven logging concessions for mangrove forests in Selangor,” said Dr Yunus.

“But only five of them are carrying out logging activities and sharing an area of 800ha in Pulau Ketam,” he said.

Article 74(2) of the Federal Constitution provides that land and natural resources are matters under the jurisdiction of the state governments.

It states that the state is empowered to enact laws and policies on forestry independently and a State Forestry Director is appointed to manage the administration and regulation of forest harvesting; revenue collection which includes premiums, royalties, deposits, cess and other charges, the management and development of forest resources as well as planning and coordination of the development of forest-based industry.

The states, through their respective Forestry Department, constitute permanent reserved forests and classify them for timber production and protection such as water catchment areas, wildlife reserves and bird sanctuaries, virgin jungle reserves, state parks and amenity forests.

All forest produce from these permanent reserved forests or state land remain the property of the state and all exploitation of forest produce must be licensed and administered by the state.

The state forestry directors have the power to arrest, search, seize and investigate forest-related offences, and impose fines and prosecute offenders.

In accordance with the requirement of National Forestry Act 1984, the State Forestry Departments are expected to submit annual reports to both the state authority as well as the Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia.

Malaysia’s forest policy has always emphasised the balance between protection and production. Regulations are in place with regard to forest management operations, which specify in detail harvesting guidelines, codes of best practices, forest inventory and construction of forest roads.

All harvesting and related operations are carried out by licensed contractors.

These licences stipulate intensity of extraction, harvesting sequence, tree size limitations, transport routes and standard of road.

Harvesting timber, for both inland and mangrove forest, is allowed in the country, with the logging licence issued by the relevant state Forestry Departments.

The licence for harvesting the trees is granted to the concessionaires under the selective management systems to ensure the sustainability of the forest.

It advocates the selection of a cutting regime based on diameter limits and species composition of the standing trees. It means the logging is permitted to zones that have met the maturity criteria of the trees.

Meanwhile, the chopping of mangrove trees in Selangor is only allowed on those that have reached a minimum of 30cm in diameter.

With the average growth of about 0.6 to 0.8cm per annum, it will need about 10 years for mangrove trees to reach the minimum diameter before they can be harvested.

According to the Malaysian Nature Society, only 1.8% of Malaysia’s land is covered in mangroves, with over 50% of these mangroves lost between 1950 and 1985.

Forestry Department statistics show that Peninsular Malaysia had 85,000ha of mangrove forest in 2003, down from 86,497ha in 2002.

The Selangor Forestry Department statistics show that in 2008, a total of 18,088ha of the coastal area in the state is covered with mangrove forest.

Those who are felling the trees that are smaller would be fined if they are caught.

Contractors who cut immature tree can be fined a maximum of RM50,000. At the same time, those who are carrying out illegal logging in the state have to pay a heavier fines.

Under Section 15 of the National Forestry Act, 1984 (Amendment 1993) those illegal loggers can be fined up to a maximum of RM500,000 and mandatory imprisonment of one year minimum and a maximum of 20 years.

Raja Musa Forest Reserve - Give The Smallholder HELL please!

These smallholders are cronies from the previous Barisan Najis. The Barisan Najis through agents sold land to smallholders without titles. And these greedy smallholders (which they claim but actually rich buggers) actually exploited the forest reserve, without thinking about the ecological damages done - affecting farmers down stream, draining off the peat swamp, killing enormous number of wildlife and forest, flora....and they dare to cry double standard? HELL to them. They employed foreigners to work on the peat swamps. Look at some of the pictures below to prove to you the damages and raping of healthy forest for personal profit by the so called cronies of Barisan Najis......

Raja Musa Forest Reserve - barren for miles the shit left by the previous government.

Miles and miles of open, barren land of Raja Musa Forest Reserve, Selangor. Culprits should be hanged or given rotan. But sadly you can buy your way out.

Foreign workers near the boundary of Raja Musa Forest Reserve. They were willing to sell us wildlife caught from the reserve at the right price.

------check news below------

May 20, 2009
Raja Musa forest reserve smallholders cry double standard
Star

SMALLHOLDERS who were evicted from the Raja Musa forest reserve near Batang Berjuntai are crying foul over the double standard practised by the Selangor government.

They claimed the government did not take immediate action to evict encroachers at the Kuala Langat forest reserve.

The group who were evicted from the Raja Musa peat swamp forest reserve during an enforcement exercise some time at the end of last year, felt that the state government had given face to those who committed the same offence in the Kuala Langat area.

“The state is willing to listen to them and had even called for a meeting with them,” said Idris Jaafar, one of the smallholders who were evicted from the forest reserve last year.

“They were also given more time to work on the land until they can collect their harvest this season.

“The state did not give the same chance to us,” he said.

He said they had tried to hold a similar meeting to voice their grouses to the state government since last year, but it fell on deaf ears.

“Most of us had invested a lot of money on the land and had been working there for years.

“We also had the approval to conduct the agricultural activity although it was on the forest reserve.

“So why didn’t they give us a chance like what they are doing to the group from Kuala Langat,” he added.

His sentiment was shared by Nordin Kassim, another smallholder who had lost his crop during the exercise.

“Last time when the authority told us that we could not plant oil palm trees and told us to replace it with cash crop instead, we obeyed and replaced them with pineapple and banana trees.

“How come no one told us that we were not allow to do all of this from the beginning,” he said.

When asked, Selangor state agriculture committee chairman Yaakob Sapari said such action was necessary as the threat was far worse in Raja Musa forest reserve.

Yaakob, who is also the state natural resources and entrepreneur development committee chairman, said the Raja Musa forest reserve was a very sensitive one as it affected the water table.

“The Raja Musa forest reserve affects not only the encroachers but also the padi farmers and the water table as it is a peat forest.

“More than 9,500 rice growers are affected due to the draining of the Raja Musa peat forest.

“But over here, it only affects the forest ecology,” he said.

For over 10 years, more than 600ha of the forest reserve was illegally cleared and burnt for large-scale farming.

At the end of last year, the Selangor state forestry department, on the instruction of the state government, ordered the eviction of the illegal occupants and started the clearing of all vegetation and agricultural activities in the area.

Since then the department together with various NGOs have put up continuous efforts to rehabilitate the 23,000ha peat swamp forest reserve.

It includes replanting seedlings of indigenous to the peat swamp species to turn it back into its natural state.