Sapuan Ahmad
KUCHING: Five timber concessions around the Balui River will expire at the end of this year and it will be the discretion of Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg to renew these licences.
These licences, which were issued as early as 1983, have allowed the companies holding them to fell trees legally within their concession areas for the last 30 years.
“Five licences around the Balui River will be expiring this year. It will be up to the chief minister whether to renew or not renew,” state Forest Department director Sapuan Ahmad told The Borneo Post recently.
He said as far as he knew, there would be no renewal upon expiry as the chief minister had stressed that the ban on issuance of timber concessions was here to stay.
“The Forestry Department will follow the instruction of the new chief minister. There will be no more renewal (of timber concessions) upon expiry unless the area has been earmarked for development,” said Sapuan.
Abang Johari had in early March announced that he would be continuing with the forest policies laid down by the late chief minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem, which was to freeze the issuance of timber concessions.
The present chief minister added that operating licences would not be renewed unless the land involved had been approved for development purposes.
On the definition of ‘development’ on the land where the timber concessions used to be located, Sapuan said this meant agricultural activities such as the planting of ‘gaharu’,
rubber trees and fruit trees such as rambutan and durian as well as any crop that would not pollute the land.
He believed that oil palm plantation would not be an agricultural option for the land around Balui River after the expiry of the timber concessions.
“It (the land) cannot be used for oil palm as there is no mill there. Palm oil has to be brought out (to be processed) within 48 hours. And I don’t think they can build a mill there because of the (Bakun) dam. Only a crazy controller will allow it.
“If you ask me, I will not. I will also tell the state government that we cannot allow a mill there,” he stressed.
Sapuan further explained that oil palm plantation would not be an option for this part of Sarawak – the upper reaches of the Bakun Dam – because of terracing (creating terraces to plant oil palm) would cause a lot of siltation, which might cut short the lifespan of the turbines at the Bakun Dam.
“It would also pollute the catchment area. I don’t think the new chief minister would allow it,” said Sapuan, in response to the current logjam issue in Balui River.
According to him, logging activities are still on-going around the Balui River area, but said the logjam – the 4km-long accumulation of debris in Balui River – was not caused by recent logging activities.
Rather, it was caused by accumulation of decaying wood left behind by previous loggers in the area more than three decades ago, he added.