Timber product export worth RM4.61 bln in 1Q, up 4.7 pct

KUCHING: Sarawak recorded timber product export worth RM4.61 billion in the fi rst quarter of this year, up 4.7 per cent from the same period last year.

Ninety per cent of the exported products, according to Second Minister of Urban Development and Natural Resources Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, are plywood ( RM2.47 billion), log/timber ( RM936 million), sawn timber ( RM595 million) and veneer ( RM135million).

“There are five major markets for our timber products - Japan, India, South Korea, middle eastern countries and Taiwan - which account for RM3.76 billion in total export,” he said during his ministry’s winding-up speech yesterday.

The increase in export value is heavily influenced by the increase in the export of plywood which grew from RM2.14 billion in 2016 to RM2.47 billion this year.

Another factor is the increased export of sawn timber which grew from RM553 million in 2016 to RM595 million this year.

Awang Tengah also touched on the state government’s fight against illegal logging, saying they were still serious and committed to the cause.

To strengthen the enforcement against illegal logging, the usage of new technologies such as drones, hyperspectral and remote sensing technologies would be used to conduct surveillance in hotspot areas.

A joint agency operations involving the police, Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency, Malaysian Anti- Corruption Commission ( MACC), Road Transport Department, State Safety and Enforcement Unit, Sarawak Forestry Corporation, Sarawak

There are five major markets for our timber products - Japan, India, South Korea, middle eastern countries and Taiwan - which account for RM3.76 billion in total export.

Timber Industry Development Corporation and Harwood Timber Sdn Bhd will be forged and executed under the National Blue Ocean Strategy ( NBOS) initiative.

The state Forest Department, Awang Tengah said, would also be monitoring and carrying out enforcements throughout the state by conducting checks at log ponds, collection and distribution centres, timber processing factories and at export points.

The existing Reverse Logistics ( Revlog) system for revenue collection and tracking of log movement has been upgraded with additional capacities for enforcement along the chain of custody.

“To strengthen the management of our forest resources, the government will utilise the latest digital technologies to enable us to carry out detailed stand diagnostics in order to analyse the composition of our forests in terms of species and biomass.”

Technologies will also be used to conduct 3D laser mapping to capture structural dimension of forest stand, big data (geospatial) analysis for forest stand evaluation, and automated assessment of degraded landscape.

The state government is also planing to gazette six million hectares as Permanent Forest Estates ( PFEs).

“As of Oct this year, an area of 4.32 million hectares have been gazetted as PFEs, which is 72 per cent of the targeted areas,” Awang Tengah added.

The state government would also continue to emphasise on sustainable forest management by ensuring that the state’s forest licence must comply with the standards of the Malaysian Timber Certification Council ( MTCC), which is accredited to the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification ( PEFC) - the world’s largest international certification scheme.

The state government is also implementing the ‘Sarawak Timber Legality Verification System’ which is documented based on the Inter Agency Standard Operation Procedure for the forestry and timber industry.

“The legality system ensures that the source of timber and timber products are genuinely from Sarawak. The STLV standard was developed into a formal due diligence system which allows for third-party audit verification,” he added.

On another note, Awang Tengah said he had instructed the MACC to conduct investigations on the release of illegal timber and machinery in Kelawit, Bintulu recently.

“Since the issue is still under investigation, I do not have to go into details. My ministry and the relevant agencies will provide full cooperation to ensure that the investigation can be carried out in a holistic and fair manner,” he said in reply to David Wong ( DAPPelawan) who raised the subject earlier in the sitting.

Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, Second Minister of Urban Development and Natural Resources