Sarawak timber dealers appeal for flexibility
Timber merchants and contractors in Sarawak affected by reduced
log production have appealed to the banks and suppliers for more
flexibility in finance and support services.
The State Government put the brakes on log harvesting last
month as the production for the first eight months of this year
was deemed "too high." About 15.2 million cubic metres of logs
were harvested in the first eight months of this year against the
target of 18 million cubic metres for the whole year.
Sarawak Timber Association (STA) vice-chairman and hill
logging committee chief Datuk Yaw Teck Seng said the State
Government had ordered that the annual harvesting coupe sizes of
all forest engineering plan (FEP) hill areas, which are mainly
in the permanent forest estate (PFE), be reduced by an average
of 15 per cent.
Re-entry or re-working of blocks within the PFEs is no
longer allowed. This directive was implemented following the
review of the general harvesting plans of all FEP licences.
Yaw said to meet this year's target of 18 million cubic
metres barely 2.8 million cubic metres of logs can be harvested
during the September to December period.
He said the State Government's latest policy was to honour
its pledge made at the 11th session of the International Tropical
Timber Organisation (ITTO) in Yokohama, Japan, last December.
Sarawak had pledged to cut the annual timber production from
the PFE by three million cubic metres during the 1992-93 period.
Next year's production target has been set at 16.5 million
cubic metres. Last year, the target was 19.4 million cubic
metres.
He said in the several missions made to assess the State's
forestry policies and the Forest Department's present and future
strategies in forest management, the ITTO was satisfied with the
fact that Sarawak has 1.5 million hectares of virgin forest as
national parks, 800,000ha of virgin forests as wildlife
sanctuaries and 11.1 million hectares as permanent forest estate.
"These and other sound forest management policies, which are
considered second to none among tropical wood producing
countries, have impressed the ITTO. The only criticism is the
State's harvesting volume is too high."
Meanwhile, it has been reported that at least 30 to 40 per
cent of the present timber camp workforce would be affected by
the new rulings. Some of the loggers have been offered the option
of moving to Papua New Guinea or Cambodia.
It is also believed that some timber firms have or may cut
wages by 20 to 30 per cent.