KUCHING: The Forest Department will be directed to exclude the approved resettlement site for the communities affected by the Bengoh Dam project from a licence to extract timber in the area.
“The timber licence was issued over the state land in Bengoh. The Land and Survey Department had verified the status of the land.
“However, if the area is found to be within the approved resettlement area, the Forest Department will be directed to exclude the area from the licence,” Second Resource Planning and Environment Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan said in a press statement issued here yesterday.
He added timber could be harvested in permanent forest estates, state land area, alienated lands, native communal reserves or native customary lands (NCL).
“However, the harvesting of timber requires a permit or a licence.”
As for gazetted water catchment areas, he said harvesting could be carried out as it was one of the prescribed activities under the First Schedule of the Natural Resources and Environment (Prescribed Activities (Amendment) Order, 1997.
“The timber licensee has to submit a report to Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB). The report has to be prepared by an authority or an expert as may be approved by the board and (in this case) the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report had been duly approved for this particular area,” he explained.
However, he said, the licensee must comply with the requirements to mitigate the impact on the surrounding area before embarking on harvesting operation.
Earlier, Awang Tengah was met by reporters at the Mineral and Geosciences Department’ excellent service award presentation ceremony in the morning.
Also present during the interview yesterday was Assistant Rural Development Minister Julaihi Narawi.
Last week, Bengoh Resettlement Scheme (BRS) liaison committee sent a memorandum to Kuching Resident Abdul Rahman Sebli Senusi as the chairman for Bengoh Dam Project Resettlement and Culture sub-committee seeking his assistance to put a stop to the encroachment by a logging company into the land alienated to them by the government.
Copies of the memorandum were also sent to Deputy Tourism Minister and Mambong MP Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit, Assistant Public Health Minister and Bengoh assemblyman Dr Jerip Susil, directors of Land and Survey Department and Agriculture Department and Pemanca Austin Dimin as the coordinator of the project.
Residents from the four affected villages; namely Kampung Taba Sait, Pain Bojong, Semban and Rejoi in upper Penrissen initially agreed to be resettled at a site near Kampung Semadang with the condition that they would be given houses and basic infrastructure including land for them to do their farming.
BRS liaison committee chairman Itodio Peu Rayu had said that the affected villagers might change their minds and refuse to move out from their present settlements if the land allocated to them was to be a logged area.