Joint operation on illegal logging yields major seizures

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SFC officers measures the illegal logs.

KUCHING: A joint operation by Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC), Sibu Regional Office with the State Security and Enforcement Unit of the Chief Minister’s Office, Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) and 10th PGA Battalion to curb illegal logging activities in Song and Kapit area in Sibu resulted in major seizures and the culprits apprehended.

The operation, named ‘Ops Jongkong’, was carried out from Sept 12 to 18, in which six raids were conducted at hot spots near Sungai Sebunus, Kapit.

The capture of four suspects (two locals and two foreigners) on-site added to the success of the operation as the culprits were normally elusive in most cases, said SFC in a statement yesterday.

“In all, seven heavy machinery, one chainsaw and 533 pieces of illegal logs of various species and sizes were detained.

“There were some futile attempts to deceive the enforcement team as some logs were with fake Log Production Identity (LPI) tags while some were found buried underneath forest debris and soil to avoid detection,” said the SFC spokesperson, adding that the logs are believed to have been illegally extracted from both state land forest and timber-licence areas nearby.

All cases had been reported to a police station and handed over to Forest Department Kapit for further investigation.