State govt committed to no longer issuing new long-term licences for logging, says Forest Dept director

Hamden gestures during the press conference. – Photo by Chimon Upon

KUCHING: The state government of Sarawak is committed to adhering to its policy of no longer issuing new long-term licences for logging activities in the state, said state Forest Department director Datu Hamden Mohammad.

However, short-term or annual licences for development purposes are still being issued based on needs in certain areas, he said.

“It is definite that no new licence (for long-term logging) is being issued. New licences issued are for development only. If we stop issuing new licences in general, development cannot be carried out.

“So now it (new licence) is more for development. The (new) licences issued are to clear up land areas for development such as NCR (native customary right) land development and HEP (hydroelectric plant) too.

“Special licences have to be issued because that is for development. As for long-term licences, certainly no more,” he said at a press conference after launching a sharing session on ‘Revised Reduced Impact Logging Guidelines for Sarawak’ at a hotel here today.

As of August this year, 184 licences remained valid, of which, 118 were “big licences”, Hamden revealed.

He said new licences issued for development purposes would have to be renewed every year.

He added: “Once development is done, two to three years, then the licence is no longer valid. It also depends on how big the (development) area is.”

For long-term licences, Hamden said they usually came with a five-year validity period and would be renewed based on the period of the licence.

He reiterated that licences issued for development purposes would be valid for a year.

“We have to see what is the balance of the forest areas within certain area. Sometimes, we give them (licencees) six months. So it depends on how big the area is, and forest land balance on the ground.

“We also have planning especially by the FMU (Forest Management Unit). The validity of the licence is based on the plan that we have imposed,” he added.

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