STATE GOVT LOSES MILLIONS
‘Forest pirates’ have cleared more than 100ha of forest reserves
THE Terengganu government has lost millions of ringgit in revenue from illegal logging in forests reserves over the past 10 years with little success in wiping out syndicates behind such activities.
These “forest pirates” target timber with a high value. They have cleared more than 100ha of forest reserves, including Gunung Tebu, Pelagat and Hulu Besut, which are all Besut, and Rasau and Bukit Bauk, both in Dungun, and Cheneh and Cherul, both in Kemaman.
Protected by syndicates, they employ villagers to become their spies to alert them on the presence of any Forestry Department enforcement unit, thus making it difficult for such units to launch raids or ambush trespassers.
However, their modus operandi has been identified following undercover surveillance. It includes intrusion in isolated areas using the cover of oil palm plantations or rubber estates bordering forest reserves.
This tactic of using uncharted roads made it difficult for the enforcement unit to pinpoint the location of an illegal logging.
Syndicates conduct their illegal logging activities starting from midnight and ending at 5am. They use the cover of darkness to avoid detection.
A source said the syndicates were getting wiser and had adopted a nomad-style activity to avoid detection. They enlisted the help of villagers to act as spies.
By receiving early warnings from such spies, these loggers were able to avoid arrest and raids usually ended up with seizure of heavy equipment, such as excavators, backhoes and lorries.
“Logs are stacked near rubber estates and oil palm plantations before they are sent to nearby sawmills in stages to avoid detection. At the sawmills, some owners have gone to the extreme by burying the logs in their premises and piling them with sawn timber or planks,” he told the New Straits Times Press when met recently.
“There was one case in Besut where the syndicate took extreme measures by burning the evidence at a sawmill. In most raids, tension will be high and our worst fear is an ambush by syndicate members. As such, we have to be on high alert during operations.
The source said two syndicates in Besut and Kemaman had been operating illegally for 10 years and their operations had exposed the forest reserves to environmental problems, while in Dungun, such activities were carried out by individuals.
“These syndicates are very organised and we have difficulty in monitoring their activities. However, our approach has changed and we are getting more successful in our raids with the use of modern technology, especially remote sensing and drones.”
The enforcement unit had in recent raids sought the assistance of police and army to provide back-up to the forestry officers.
“We are safe at the moment, but we will never know if desperation will lead to extreme actions by the illegal loggers. We just have to be careful all the time.”