The Kelantan state government is not denying that illegal logging occurs in the state, said Deputy Menteri Besar Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah, adding that appropriate action has been taken by the Kelantan Forestry Department to address the problem.
He also said the state government should not be simply blamed when illegal logging happens in the state.
“In Kelantan, we do face theft of our timber. We did receive reports and the state government is taking action,” he said.
Amar (above), who is a PAS vice-president, said whenever such activities are detected, the authorities will seize all timber in question.
“When I checked, the Forestry Department said the logs were seized so they could find out who was involved,” he said to reporters after attending a state executive council meeting in Kota Bharu earlier today.
The Panchor state assemblyperson was responding to alleged illegal logging activities at the Nenggiri forest reserve, highlighted recently by Save Kelantan chairperson Husam Musa.
Existed since BN's time
Husam, who is a former Kelantan state executive councillor, recently said Compartment 26 of the Nenggiri forest was gazetted as a protected forest, but approval was given to state-owned company Daulah Najah Sdn Bhd to carry out logging activities there.
He also claimed that illegal logging happened near Compartment 26, causing losses to the state of up to RM5 million.
According to him, the logged timber that was kept near Daulah Najah's storage facility had since been seized by the Forestry Department.
Responding to this, Amar told reporters that the company mentioned by Husam was indeed licensed to carry out logging works in the area.
He said the state government does not discount the possibility that there are irresponsible parties stealing timber outside the areas they were allowed to log.
“For example, if someone accuses our child of stealing, can you also blame the father for the theft? If the son is involved in drug abuse, is it the father's fault?” Amar said.
The deputy menteri besar said logging activities in Kelantan had been ongoing for many years, and it was also the state's main income generator when BN was heading the state government.
“During BN's time, they did logging, also during the time of Tok Guru (former Kelantan menteri besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat).
“When Husam was in the state government, there were also logging works. So what is the issue here when logging is part of the state's revenue?
“But now logging is no longer our main source of income after we started diversifying our revenue sources.
“And logging activities are also tied with rules including the annual limit, which the federal government decides,” Amar said.
He also pointed out that the illegal removal of timber is not exclusive to Kelantan, but also happens in other states.
'Save Husam'
Meanwhile, Amar also took a swipe at Husam whom he accused of having a political agenda and personal interest in highlighting logging issues in the state.
He claimed that the Save Kelantan movement by Husam was not a sincere move to save Kelantan but instead to save Husam's political career.
“Why did Husam suddenly emerge (with this issue)? Because the election is around the corner, he wants to tell the people that he still exists and perhaps a political party would offer him to contest for them,” he said.
Amar also alleged that the Save Kelantan NGO had manipulated certain facts to promote Husam's image.
“To me, Save Kelantan is actually Save Husam.”
According to Amar, Daulah Najah was given a license to carry out logging activities to settle payment for a highway project, which was initiated when Husam was still part of the Kelantan state government.
“He was the one who announced that the state government wanted to build a highway and work had started.
“So to pay our debt to the company, the state government set up Daulah Najah and gave it logging concessions. The aim is to use the logging revenue to pay the highway contractor.
“That is why in Daulah Najah, the state executive council is listed as a board member because this is a government-linked company. It is not an executive councillor's private company.
“But the way Husam wrote was like this company belongs to an individual. He manipulated facts, and the public who did not know better, they see it as the exco getting involved in business. This is the problem,” Amar said.
Husam was a PAS vice-president, a two-time Kelantan state lawmaker, and a one-time MP. He is now a vice-president of Amanah, a PAS splinter party. - Mkini
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