KUCHING: The Kampung Matang Lot Neighbourhood Watch (RT) is calling for the authorities to expedite the appointment of an honorary wildlife ranger to look after the state forest reserve adjacent to the village.RT chairman Ramzi Narudin said the appointment must not be delayed because it could give the wrong signals to those involved in illegal logging in the area.
“We totally agree with the idea of having an honorary wildlife ranger to assist the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) to watch over the state forest reserve and we hope that the local authorities could expedite the appointment for the post,” he said recently.
Although the RT plans to have a patrol team for the village, he said, they would not be able to take any action against those who might be conducting illegal logging in the state forest reserve.
“Our members of the RT patrol team do have the authority to act over any criminal acts in the village, but certainly we will not allow our patrol team to act against these illegal loggers because they do not have the authority to do so.
“Thus, even if our patrol team bumps into them when making the rounds, we will not do anything but just look at them and hope that they will not cause any trouble inside the village,” he said.
Last week, two villagers called for SFC to appoint an honorary wildlife ranger to keep away illegal loggers, as they claimed illegal logging activities had gotten worse in the last five months.
In response to the claim, SFC issued a press release denying illegal logging was rampant in the area.
Managing director Datu Len Talif Salleh said an aerial survey conducted recently found no evidence of rampant illegal logging near the vicinity of Kubah National Park.
However, he said the corporation did seize 59 pieces of sawn timber on Dec 30 when an enforcement team combed the area on foot.
Touching on the plan to have the patrol team, Ramzi said the RT is waiting for the National Unity Department to approve its application to have the Volunteer Patrolling Scheme (VPS) extended to the village.
“We have submitted about 60 names for the scheme and we intend to add more names as many are interested to take part in assisting us to look after our village against unhealthy activities such as glue sniffing, gambling and drinking alcohol,” he said.