The Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) visited the District Forest Office in Temerloh following a report highlighting issues of deforestation and weak environmental enforcement.
The commission aimed to gather information on permanent forest reserves from the Peninsular Malaysia Forestry Department.
EAIC CEO Asliza Ali said the visit was also to strengthen enforcement efforts in the forestry sector.
She said the visit followed a report on the findings of the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index 2024, which highlighted issues including an imbalance between economic development and environmental sustainability.
“Among the issues identified by BTI are weaknesses in the enforcement of forestry laws and the issue of illegal logging, logging license procedures, and forestry management, which have resulted in soil erosion as well as flash floods.
“Therefore, from this visit, we can gather inputs from the Peninsular Malaysia Forestry Department regarding the conservation and maintenance of permanent forest reserves after forest product harvesting licenses have expired.
“We were also briefed on the use of satellite technology in detecting changes in the country’s forests, as well as its function in proactively addressing forest issues,” Asliza (above) said.
She was speaking at a press conference at the District Forestry Office in Temerloh, Pahang, before entering the rehabilitated forest area for a visit.
According to her, a total of 32 cases of illegal logging were recorded in Peninsular Malaysia involving an area of 100ha, with 368 arrests made last year.
Resolving illegal logging
Meanwhile, she said the visit also provided an opportunity for the EAIC Corruption Perception Index (CPI) special task force to observe the permanent forest reserve areas that had been maintained and replanted.
“In addition, we can also understand the current challenges facing the relevant agencies, especially in terms of enforcement, and assess the effectiveness of existing implementation as well as the level of support required by the Peninsular Malaysia Forestry Department in resolving the issue of illegal logging.
“Previously, their corruption index only looked at reports on the website, not going to the source. Now, we go to the source and show the people what the real situation is,” she said.
She said Malaysia is targeting 25th place and above in the global CPI ranking by 2033.
- Bernama
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