Awang Tengah urges Forest Dept to intensify operations to prevent illegal logging

Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan

MIRI (Oct 2): Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan is calling on the Sarawak Forest Department to intensify its operations to prevent illegal logging activities throughout the state.

He also praised efforts by the department in fighting illegal logging activities with strict enforcement, including during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period.

“I’m very proud that even during the MCO, the department was out there preventing illegal logging. I received reports from time to time during MCO, there were illegal logging activities in several areas.

“They (illegal loggers) are taking the opportunity because they think we are sleeping at home. But despite MCO, we still carry out our duty and responsibility,” he said when officiating at the Sarawak Forest Department Excellence Service Award (APC) held at Imperial Hotel here on Thursday night.

Tengah who is also Second Minister of Rural Development and Natural Resources, wants the Forestry Department to fully utilise technology and available facilities to improve surveillance and prevention approaches.

“We use technology to strengthen our work and administer our forest. We encourage the use of technology in illegal logging prevention operations and to help us become mobile when carrying out our task,” he said.

The Minister of International Trade and Industry, Industrial Terminal and Entrepreneurs Development added that Sarawak has huge forest areas with various types of flora and fauna that needs to be protected and preserved.

“Sarawak’s forest is like a big pharmacy because it is rich with plants that can be used for medication and health, and is also a source of income for rural residents.

“We must preserve our forest, if not we might have big flood, soil erosion and various other natural disasters. This is the function of our forest that we need to protect. That is why we targeted one million hectares of protected forest,” he said.

In view of that, the Forest Department was urged to go all out and be very strict in fighting illegal logging activities.

Apart from affecting the state’s revenue, he said illegal loggings will also destroy the environment.

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