Sarawak DCM wants MACC to step in
KUCHING: The Malaysian AntiCorruption Agency (MACC) and “other agencies” have been directed to look into the puzzling release of seized logs and machinery worth millions of ringgit.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, in disclosing this, said this was because he had no idea about the supposed committee recently mentioned by the state Forest Department, which determined the seized logs were not illegally felled.
“I myself don’t know what committee the Forest Department mentioned. But it is different from the committee which is chaired by me,” he said when approached by journalists here yesterday.
Awang Tengah, who is Second Minister of Urban Development and Natural Resources, affirmed that the agencies directed to probe the matter excluded the state Forest Department.
“It’s definitely not the Forest Department (looking into the matter) but other agencies,” he said when asked.
Awang Tengah was quick to point out that the AntiLogging Committee headed by him comprised many agencies, including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Asked how soon an outcome could be expected from the investigation, he said: “I (have) asked them to do the investigation as soon as possible.”
When asked whether ‘something fishy is going on’, Awang Tengah quipped: “I don’t know. This is why I ask them to do an investigation.
“I take it seriously and I only got the information lately. I have directed the relevant authorities to investigate. I also want MACC to carry out a thorough investigation on this matter.”
Recently, state Forest Department director Sapuan Ahmad confirmed the release of logs and vehicles seized during a raid on alleged illegal logging in Bintulu.
The raid was reported to have been conducted by a company and Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) officers during which about RM7 million worth of illegal logs and heavy machinery were seized.
A police report was then lodged at Tatau Police Station and subsequently, more than 3,500 logs and 14 units of heavy machinery were handed over to the Forest Department by SFC for further action.
Sapuan later disclosed that a committee set up to probe the case came to the conclusion that there was no case against the companies which had logged the area.
The director further pointed out that the decision was not his, but that of the department’s investigating committee.
He also added that as director, he accepted the findings of his committee and sanctioned the release of the logs and vehicles.