Musa (sixth left) and Sam Mannan (sixth right) with representatives of the 10 FMU license holders after receiving their certificate of compliance on Saturday night.
SANDAKAN: Ten companies which are partners of the state government in the administration of 13 forest managements units (FMUs) were presented with certificate of compliance by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman here on Saturday.
The presentation ceremony was one of the highlights at Sabah Forestry Department’s annual “Innovation Night 2011” held at the Libaran community hall.
The certificate was an official acknowledgement of their good performance of the FMUs under their charge in various parts of the state in 2010.
Among those who received the certificate from the Chief Minister was David Chieng Lee Kie, senior manager of KTS Plantation Sdn Bhd that manages an FMU at the Segaliud Lokan Forest Reserve.
Datuk Dr Kelvin Tan, chairman of TSH Resources Berhad; Norman Wong Shew Yam, managing director of Sapulut Forest Development Sdn Bhd; and Shigeru Umehara, director of K M Hybrid Plantation Sdn Bhd were among others who did so on behalf of their companies.
Also there was Datuk Kamal D E Quadra representing Arus-Sawit Sdn Bhd, one of the two firms under Silam Forest Products Sdn Bhd that manages two FMUs.
Rakyat Berjaya Sdn Bhd, the commercial arm of the Sabah Foundation Group, a licence holder for three FMUs, including the one at Ulu-Segama-Malua, was among the recipients.
Other FMU firms that received the 2010 certificate of compliance were Sabah Forest Industries Sdn Bhd (SFI), Bornion Timber Sdn Bhd, Maxland Sdn Bhd and Lebihasil Sdn Bhd.
The Chief Minister also presented a special award to the Monitoring, Control, Enforcement and Evaluation (MCEE) unit of SFD in Keningau for their outstanding work in dealing with illegal logging activities in forest reserve areas there in the past year.
The MCEE team, headed by Mohd Noor Ahmad Ag Amat, included the district forest officers (DFOs) of Nabawan, Sook, Keningau, Tambunan and Tenom.
Datuk Sam Mannan, director of the Sabah Forestry Department (SFD), in his speech at the dinner congratulated those who received the FMU compliance certificate, saying that the government recognizes their contribution.
He also congratulated 37 officials and staff of the department who were presented with excellence awards for 2010 at the dinner and urged them to continue with this “culture of excellence”.
The presentation of the awards to officials and staff was made by Rahim Sulaiman, SFD deputy director (management); and Fidelis E Bajau, SFD deputy director (development).
Among the guests present were State Assemblymen Datuk Shamsuddin Yahya and Datuk Zakariah Edris; president of the Sandakan Municipal Council, Datuk James Wong; and representatives of non-governmental organizations in support of SFD’s conservation efforts.
They included two senior officials of WWF-Malaysia, Datuk Dr Junaidi Payne, senior technical advisor; and Dr Rahimatsah Amat, chief technical officer for its Borneo Malaysia programme.
Veteran Malaysian singer Datuk Sheila Majid, who recently celebrated her 25th anniversary of her singing career, made a surprise appearance at the dinner.
She presented a number of her favourite oldies, including one from here first album, to the delight of the guests and forestry officials from all over Sabah.