PKR asks SFC to make public how they dispose of confiscated logs

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KUCHING: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) is calling on Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) to let the public know how they dispose of the illegal logs after they have been confiscated.

Its women national vice president Voon Shiak Ni pointed out that it was simply a matter of accountability and public interest to do so.

“Those seized logs are worth millions of ringgit, but we don’t know who buys them after they are auctioned. Besides that, we are not told where the proceeds from the illegal logs go to,” she said in a press conference here yesterday.

Voon said she had brought up the matter with SFC last month, but there was no answer from them so far. She suggested that such things must be done with full transparency because public interest is involved.

Voon praised Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem for his no-nonsense war against illegal logging, adding that as a result of the campaign, more than RM40 million worth of illegal logs were seized in Sarawak last year.

She also noted the last few successes made in Sematan and Samarahan this year.

She suggested that the seized logs, being the property of the state, could be used to repair the many dilapidated schools in Sarawak. After all, these schools are desperately waiting for funds for the repairs, she said.