No arrests made by MACC against Terengganu illegal loggers, MB says

The Terengganu state government has denied that an arrest has been made by MACC against those allegedly involved in illegal logging and forest encroachment activities in the state.

Menteri Besar Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman said MACC had only carried out investigations against those arrested after the enforcement action taken by the state Forestry Department.

“I myself did not know (that the MACC has made an arrest). In fact, the state government has instructed MACC as well as other agencies including the Royal Malaysian Police to assist the Forestry Department in carrying out enforcement because they don’t have enough staff.

“Alhamdulillah, lately, many arrests have been made by the state Forestry Department and they are aggressively carrying out enforcement to ensure that forest encroachment in the state can be prevented,” he told reporters during a break of the State Legislative Assembly sitting in Wisma Darul Iman, Kuala Terengganu today.

Earlier, during the debate session on the Terengganu Budget 2018, PKR Bandar state assemblyman from Azan Ismail claimed that MACC had made an arrest against those involved in the illegal logging activities in Dungun, which was reported by TV3 last year and early this year.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Razif advised the parties who wanted to make compensation claim from the Kuala Terengganu-Bypass project to bring the matter to court to ensure their rights were protected.

He said the project was fully carried out by the federal government and any compensation to landowners should be settled according to the terms that had been stated by the party concerned.

“The land acquisition issue is under the federal government...they need to bring it to court if there is any dissatisfaction, let the court decide.

“If there is a need to appeal to the Lands and Mines Office, we will give support but before that the state government should wait for the court decision," he said.

- Bernama