(MY) Orang utan report slammed

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Orang utan report slammed

By Sulok Tawie

 

KUCHING, Thurs - 10th Nov. 2005

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The Sarawak Forestry Corporation chief today blasted Western

non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on their claims of orang utan

habitats being destroyed by oil palm plantations in the State.

" They do not know what they are talking about, " managing director

Datuk Cheong Ek Choon said.

 

" In the first place, we do not have orang utans in Tubau or Tatau (in

Bintulu Division) or Baram (Miri) where we have large areas of oil

palm plantations.

 

" Our orang utans are found in the totally protected forests at the

Meludam wetland national park in Ulu Sebuyau and the Batang Ai-Lanjak

Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary (in Sri Aman and Betong Divisions) and in

Ulu Song (Sarikei), " he said after opening the Applied Forest Science

and Industry Development seminar here.

 

Cheong said there were no oil palm plantations near forest areas where

orang utans were found.

 

" So, how could these NGOs claim that we have destroyed the habitats of

orang utans? " he asked.

 

Cheong said based on the latest figures, there were about 2,000 orang

utans in Meludam, Batang Ai-Lanjak Entimau and Ulu Song. There are no

orang utans in other parts of Sarawak.

 

He said the animal was totally protected and anyone killing them was

liable to a fine of up to RM30,000 or two years' jail.

 

He said there were no records of the primate being killed by poachers

in Sarawak but if they crossed into West Kalimantan, it could be a

different story.

 

Cheong said officials from the forestry and other government agencies

would answer questions from NGOs at the International Media and

Environment Summit to be held here from Nov 30 to Dec 2.

 

The Friends of the Earth, a British environmental campaign group, is

expected to attend the summit. It has been vocal in its claims that

oil palm plantations are the culprits in the destruction of orang utan

habitats and thus are threatening their very existence.

 

The group recently published a report entitled " Oil For Ape Scandal " ,

claiming that continued conversion of jungle into oil palm plantations

in Indonesia and Malaysia would make the orang utan extinct within 12

years.

 

Cheong also refuted allegations that smuggled logs from West

Kalimantan were stamped as Sarawak logs.

 

" There is no truth in the allegations. " The claims made in West

Kalimantan newspapers were that logs felled in West Kalimantan were

stamped as logs from Sarawak after they were smuggled into the State.

The reports said

 

the logs were smuggled mostly from Badau in West Kalimantan to Lubok

Antu in Sarawak.

 

The Indonesian officials had also brought up the log smuggling issue

at the Sarawak-West Kalimantan border technical committee meeting in

Kuching on March 29.

 

They had asked their Malaysian counterparts to help curb the smuggling

of logs along the border areas.

 

Cheong said there was no need to resort to stamping smuggled logs as

Sarawak logs as " we have enough supply of logs for our mills to

process " .

 

Sarawak currently harvests 12 million cubic metres of timber annually

from its forest.