Forestry: an unnatural disaster in Sarawak

22 October 2010

By Pak Bui

Sarawak Forestry Corporation Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and forestry department director Len Talif Salleh has dismissed the horrific ecological and infrastructure damage wrought by the Rejang log-jam as a “natural disaster”.

Len Talif argued that heavy rain, rather than over-logging or the impoundment of the Bakun Dam, had caused a catastrophic pile-up of cut logs and debris on the surface of Malaysia’s largest river. The accumulation of rubbish had blocked river traffic, wrecked boat jetties and killed fish and aquatic life, leaving communities without an important source of nutrition.

The forestry head tried to buttress his claims using technology. He said the 3D Airborne Hyperspectral Sensor taken on October 15 had shown the area was still covered by forest, but traces of landslides could be seen due to a heavy downpour at the Ulu Sungai Melatai catchment area.

Many Sarawakians are skeptical. They have traveled up the Rejang by boat, or have flown overhead, and have seen with their own ‘3D sensors’ – their eyes – the destruction caused by uncontrolled logging.

Read more here: http://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/10886/

Bian offers free legal service to logjam victims

14 October 2010

By Joseph Tawie

KUCHING: PKR leader and activist lawyer Baru Bian has offered free legal service to any person or group wanting to sue Sarawak authorities and logging companies over what has been called an “ecological disaster” affecting the rivers Rajang and Baleh.

Referring to the clogging of the rivers by logs and debris, he said:

“The logjam is evidence of a failed forest or environmental policy in Sarawak. I believe anybody affected by the disaster can take legal action. I am prepared to take such action on behalf of such people on a pro bono basis.”

Bian is a well-known native customary rights (NCR) land lawyer and chairman of PKR Sarawak.

The logjam started last week with massive amounts of logs and wood debris drifting down the Rajang for about 250km, stretching from Ulu Baleh to Sibu and disrupting river communication between several towns.

It killed tonnes of fish, including Sarawak’s famous empurau, which costs about RM500 per kilo on the market.

In Kapit, scores of longhouse chiefs expressed anger at loggers who have been operating at Ulu Baleh. They alleged that it was uncontrolled logging that had caused the debris.

They are demanding compensation.

“We have lost our livelihood, especially after the death of fish at Sungai Baleh,” said one of the chiefs. “It is very difficult to catch any fish now.”

Uncontrolled logging

Fish is the source of both food and income for many people in the affected areas.

Sarawak Land Minister James Masing on Tuesday flew over the mountains of Ulu Malatai in Ulu Baleh and said the logjam was caused by landslides and soil erosion resulting from uncontrolled logging.

He said the place resembled a “war zone”.

"Landslides and soil erosions have destroyed at least three hills in the area,” a news report quoted him as saying.

"The affected area is so big that it took 10 minutes of flying time for the helicopter to reach the other end.

"You could see exposed rocks after the landslides and erosions. There is no doubt that excessive logging caused the landslides and erosions.

"The landslides and erosions must have blocked the rivers, creating a temporary dam."

When the dam burst, he added, it released large volumes of water, logs and driftwood into Sungai Baleh, Sungai Balui and Sungai Rejang.

Source: Free Malaysia Today
URL: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/sabah-and-sarawak/11537-bian-offers-free-legal-service-to-logjam-victims

‘Logjam a man-made disaster’

14 October 2010

KAPIT: Land Development Minister Dato Sri Dr James Jemut Masing has declared the recent logjam that clogged the Baleh and Rajang rivers a “man-made disaster”.

Masing warns of more such river destructions if uncontrolled logging unchecked

He said ecological devastation at Ulu Melatai, one of the tributaries of Baleh River, could be the main contributor to last week’s disaster.

However, the Baleh assemblyman said the Baleh River’s other tributaries could also have contributed to the devastation.

Baleh River has at least 10 tributaries similar to Ulu Melatai, such as Seranai and Entuloh.

“It is a man-made ecological disaster. It created a mud pool, which completely wiped out the flora and fauna in the area. This includes animals and fish,” Masing told The Borneo Post after a site visit to Ulu Melatai yesterday.

Ulu Melatai is located some 100km southeast of Kapit town and is very close to the Kalimantan border.

With Masing were political secretary to the Chief Minister Angeline Umis, Kapit District Officer Simon Japut Tiok and Kapit district councillor Tan Kian Hoo.

Masing attributed the devastation at Ulu Melatai to extensive logging with little or no control by the authorities.

“It is as if the loggers are in a hurry to clear the whole area above the proposed Baleh hydroelectric power dam, which is currently under feasibility studies,” he said.

He warned that more similar incidents could happen again if such manner of logging was allowed to continue.

Besides, he said, the soil along the Baleh tributaries was loose and heavily churned up by logging activities, which could easily turn into mudslides by prolonged heavy rain.

While the government’s policy on forest management was very clear, he said, greater implementation and enforcement were needed.

“I would like to urge the big boys to stop sub-contracting the jobs to others to prevent illegal logging and gangsterism in the area,” he said, adding that no such incident occurred when large companies operated in the area over the last three decades.

He added that this was the third such incident to happen at Baleh River, causing havoc to the local community.

The first was recorded in 2008 at Sg Ga’at, while last year a similar incident happened at Sg Tutoh.

According to him, the upper reaches of Baleh River are a very hilly and rugged terrain, making logging very dangerous. In a related incident, two people reportedly died in that area when the bridge was swept by the mudslide.

Both bodies have been found.

Source: Borneo Post Online

URL: http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=68502

30-Mile Logjam on Malaysian River Hints at Forest Crimes

October 12, 2010

By ANDREW C. REVKIN, The New York Times

It’s hardly news that the rich virgin rain forests on both the Malaysian and Indonesian sides of Borneo are being steadily sheared away, enriching a few while ravaging unique ecosystems. In fact, it’s such a persistent issue that headlines are rare.

But a 30-mile-long logjam created on Malaysia’s longest river after a heavy rainstorm last week has brought new focus to the issue, and new questions about whether the government official who runs just about everything on Sarawak, the Malaysian portion of the island, is abetting — and profiting from — an unfolding environmental disaster.

Contrast what you see in the video above, shot late last week along the Rajang River, with the gushy greenwash published by the state government on its forestry Web site:

Welcome to SARAWAK FORESTRY, and the unique vision we are planning to achieve — global recognition as the leader in tropical forest conservation and products. We are entrusted to safeguard and sustainably manage the amazing biodiversity in Sarawak’s forests — covering tens of thousands of species of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms…. Our children, our grandchildren and future generations will recognize our successful stewardship of the natural environment and its conservation.

Personally, I’m not reassured. I’m seeking a reaction from the State Department, which has made tropical forest conservation a priority under both the Obama and Bush administrations, but of course is also juggling other issues — including working with Malaysia to deter terrorism by Islamic extremists. The Sarawak government may be seeking global recognition for its sustainable forestry practices, but it would deserve global condemnation if the roots of the logjam lie in destructive, and state sponsored, logging practices.

Mike Shanahan has helpfully pulled together links to local coverage of the situation in a post at his Under the Banyan blog. Here’s a short excerpt and link to the rest:

Environment and Public Health Minister Wong Soon Koh declared the log-jam to be a “natural calamity of gigantic proportion” and blamed landslides in highland logging areas. He said: “The wooden debris which was swept away could have been accumulated there for the past 40 or more years.”

But he added that if there was evidence that human activities were to blame, “stern action will be taken against the perpetrators”. Land Development Minister James Masing blamed unscrupulous timber companies and said that whoever caused the problem should be punished.

But many local bloggers accuse these politicians of hypocrisy. They are frustrated with the decades of government policies that have enriched a powerful elite with logging dollars but have left Sarawak with just ten percent of its forest intact.

One blogger called Tbsbidayuh summed up the mood when he wrote: “Thank you to the monsoon rain for revealing state government ignorance on taking care of environment.” Read the rest.

I also encourage you to read some impressive investigative reporting in the Sarawak Report on real estate dealings of Abdul Taib Mahmud, the Sarawak official who for decades has been in charge of handing out logging permits. The newspaper, in describing Mahmud’s involvement in substantial family real estate holdings in Canada, asks a simple question:

The Preston Square development lies at the centre of the major Canadian property empire run by the developer Sakto, which was founded in the early 1980s by Taib’s college-aged son Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, his daughter Jamilah and his brother Onn Mahmud. It continues to be managed as a ‘family business’ by his now son-in-law, a Canadian, Sean Murray.

Taxpayers in Sarawak are entitled to ask how the Chief Minister’s modest 20,000 Malaysian Ringgit a month official salary [$77,000 a year] has managed to help generate a property empire worth so much. It is also well known that the Taib family own further considerable assets in Malaysia and elsewhere.

It’d be great to know the answer, and also to be sure that countries concerned about conserving tropical forests press for an honest investigation into the conditions that resulted in the great river logjam.

If you want to track the situation on the Rajang River and in Sarawak’s forests, check the Sarawak Headhunter and Hornbill Unleashed blogs.

Malaysia’s million dollar question — where did the logs come from?

11 October 2010

The 50-km long log-jam that blocked Malaysia’s biggest river shows the scale of deforestation in the highlands of Borneo and raises fresh concerns about how the state of Sarawak manages its natural resources.

This is Malaysia’s mighty Rajang River as it has never been seen before, choked from side to side — for kilometre after kilometre — by thousands upon thousands of dead trees.

Read more here: http://underthebanyan.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/malaysias-million-dollar-question-where-did-the-logs-come-from/

Source: Under The Banyan

Ecological havoc: State govt panned

12 October 2010

By Joseph Tawie

KUCHING: Sarawak PKR today slammed the state government for its failure to prevent an “ecological disaster” when timber mass and debris clogged the Rajang River for the past five days.

“Its failure to contain the problem shows poor governance and incompetence in dealing with the consequences of developments.

“Sarawakians will suffer greater losses in terms of socio-economic costs and ecological damage,” PKR information chief See Chee How said.

“After five days, the state government is still in the dark as to its root cause,” said See, pointing out that whenever it rains in the upper reaches of major rivers, floods are reported in towns along and at the lower reaches of the rivers.

See was commenting on the massive logjam caused when tonnes of logs and wood debris drifted down the Rajang River for about 250km, stretching from Ulu Baleh to Sibu.

As a result, river communication by express boats was disrupted between Sibu and other towns such as Kanowit, Song and Kapit.

Tonnes of dead fish such as Sarawak’s famous fish empurau which cost about RM500 per kilo have been found floating in the river.

“I agree with (Land Development Minister) James Masing that this is an ecological disaster,” See said.

“I feel constrained to agree with Masing when he urged the state government not to take an ‘ostrich’ approach,” See said, adding that Masing’s call to his cabinet colleagues to take stern action was quite “bizarre”.

“It is certainly weird when he asked the state government not to adopt an ostrich approach (in tackling the problem). However, I would also like to call on Masing to keep his head above the sand and tell us what he has done in the Cabinet.

“This is the third ecological havoc which has seriously affected the livelihood of the people in Baleh,” he said.

The first disaster was at Ga’at in 2008 and the second at Sungai Tunoh last year.

Uncontrolled logging

Furthermore, See said, the state disaster and relief management committee had stated that the massive flow of log and timber mass and debris “was believed to have originated from Putai and Nungan in the upper reaches of Baleh River”.

As state assemblyman for Baleh, Masing, who is also Parti Rakyat Sarawak president, should not just point fingers at others, he added.

“However, he is not the minister who issued timber concession licences for the indiscriminate logging in Ulu Baleh, which had caused tonnes of timber mass and enormous debris to flow down the Rajang River.

“At least, it is now clear who Masing was referring to as an ostrich. No wonder he sounded angry, yet helpless, even though he is in his Cabinet,” he said.

Meanwhile, Masing said that whoever caused the massive logjam in the Rajang River should be punished.

He said blamed the disaster on uncontrolled logging in the upper reaches of Baleh River.

He urged the relevant authorities to investigate the matter and make the culprits accountable.

“This is an ecological disaster. The mud has killed fish in the rivers for over 100km.

“The government cannot be an ostrich on this issue. My people have suffered so much from this incident,” he added.

Source: Free Malaysia Today
URL: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/pakatan-rakyat/11425-ecological-havoc-state-govt-panned

50km logjam on the Rajang river

By PHILIP HII
philiphii@thestar.com.my

Saturday October 9, 2010

SIBU: Logs and debris, stretching for 50km on the Rajang river, reached Sibu town at about 10am yesterday leaving many people shocked by the scale of what is turning out to be an environmental disaster.

“This is unprecedented and beyond imagination,” Environment and Public Health Minister Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh said after assessing the situation at the Express Passenger Boat Terminal in the morning.

According to a statement from the Natural Resources and Environment Board, the source of these logs and debris were from the Baleh River and its tributaries above Kapit.

Several days of heavy rain earlier this week in Putai and Nu­­ngun in upper Baleh had caused a massive landslide which brought down the logs and debris into the rivers. The high water level and swift current in Baleh River and its tributaries also washed the logs and debris along their banks.

Passage hindered: An express passenger boat trying to weave its way through the logs in the Rajang river as it leaves Sibu.

Wong said it was a serious natural disaster which had caught both the public and government off guard.

“We haven’t started to calculate the amount of losses and the damage caused,” he said, adding that once the logs and debris had made their way out of Sibu, the authorities would start to check the foundation of the Durin and Lanang bridges.

It was estimated by a sawmill manager that the volume of the logs and debris would be more than 300,000m3.

The situation was worse around noon when the whole area at the confluence of the Rajang and Igan rivers was completely logjammed. Most of the logs and debris flowed down the Rajang while some of them flowed to the Igan.

The map explains the events leading up to the logjam.

The Malay villages which were built on stilts on the right bank of the Igan were fortunate to escape calamity as the logs and debris flowed near the opposite bank.

Meanwhile, Land Development Minister Datuk Seri James Masing blamed unscrupulous timber companies for the disaster. He travelled up the river to Kapit yesterday and was disturbed by what he saw.

“There is still a lot of debris, making travel unsafe. There are also dead fish in the river. It’s an ecological disaster,” Masing, the Baleh assemblyman, told The Star.

He said that this was the third time in three years – the first was in 2008 at Sungai Gat and the second in Sungai Tunoh last year – that such an incident had happened and he feared that it would have far-reaching implications on the state, particularly on the timber industry.

He said the state government had laid down rules for logging but what was happening clearly showed that the rules were not being followed.

“I have gone around the world telling people that we are doing logging correctly. Now this happens. What will people think of us? We must take action against these unscrupulous timber companies.”

He said the authorities concerned must take their job more seriously and enforce the laws stringently.

Source: The Star

URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/10/9/nation/7192940&sec=nation

Log-jammed river disaster unfolding in Sarawak – Now in Sibu !

By HU Editor

(Updated with Video) This is outrageous and disastrous. Will the state government spend astronomical sums of Sarawakians’ money to clear up the mess or just let the rotting logs flow into the South China Sea? Will the culprits be prosecuted?

The Chief Minister, in charge of issuing logging licences for the last 30 years (and indiscriminate destruction of our forests) should be held responsible.

Read more here: http://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/log-jammed-river-disaster-unfolding-in-sarawak-now-in-sibu/

Source: Hornbill Unleashed

Taib’s massive headache….. He deserves it!

By HU Editor

( Video Inside )This is outrageous and disastrous. Will the state government spend astronomical sums of Sarawakians’ money to clear up the mess or just let the rotting logs flow into the South China Sea? Will the culprits be prosecuted?

The Chief Minister, in charge of issuing logging licences for the last 30 years (and indiscriminate destruction of our forests), should be held responsible.

Read more here: http://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/10352/

Source: Hornbill Unleashed

Malaysia log-jam threatens disaster in Sarawak

8 October 2010 Last updated at 06:21 GMT

Logs and wood debris flowing down a river in Malaysia have blocked river transport and are threatening major flooding downstream.

The town of Kapit on the Rajang River in Sarawak has already been cut off, state media reported.

Heavy rains have forced millions of cut logs at a timber depot into the river.

The combination of a heavy monsoon season with extensive logging, both legal and illegal, is creating a dangerous situation, local media said.

A major environmental disaster was unfolding in Sarawak, which is heavily forested and logged, The Star newspaper reported.

Fear

The newspaper said heavy rains are believed to have caused a flood at a logging camp on the upper reaches of Balleh River - a tributary of the Rajang - prompting the surge of large logs into the river.

The paper quoted a local businessman as saying that the events were unprecedented.

A Sarawak blog, Hornbill Unleashed, carried pictures of the log jam and demanded action from the government for better infrastructure in the state.

"The chief minister who is in charge of issuing logging licences for the last 30 years should be held responsible," says Hornbill Unleashed in its posting.

The river is the only means of transport for communities in the area and residents further downstream are writing blog and twitter entries expressing fear at what might happen when the log train reaches them.

Source: BBC News Asia-Pacific

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11498660

Rajang River Still Innavigable Due to Massive Floating Debris

Friday, 08 October 2010 15:27

Last updated on Friday, 08 October 2010 15:32

SIBU, 8 OCTOBER, 2010: The Sarawak government will conduct a thorough investigation into the alarming situation where long stretches of debris floating on the Rajang River has rendered it innavigable to all boats here today.

"We need to find out the causes, but if there are evidence to indicate that it is due to human factor, stern action will be taken against the perpetrators," said State Minister of Environment and Public Health Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh.

The country's longest river, the Rajang at 563 kilometres long from its source, was innavigable to all boats, big or small, from about noon, here, today.

The river was like a conveyor belt in a sawmill but instead of transporting uniformly cut wood, it carried an endless flow of uprooted trees, discarded logs and all manner of vegetative debris from Kapit, some 176km away.

Kapit experienced an alarming situation from about 2pm yesterday.

Wong who watched the scene from the Kapit Express Boat Terminal, described the situation as a "natural calamity of gigantic proportion".

"I was told in Kapit yesterday that the debris was about 50km long. It is still continuing in Kapit today although happening in smaller portions and length," he told reporters at the scene.

Wong said he had been told that there had been massive landslides in Putai and Nungun, which are logging concession areas in Balleh in the interiors of Kapit Divison due to heavy rain a few days ago.

But he said he was still waiting for detailed reports from the state Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.

Wong said the situation had never been seen or experienced here before and was rather scary.

"When the situation improves and there is a navigable path along the river, teams from the Public Works Department and Sarawak Rivers Board will check on the Durin and Lanang bridges to dislodge any debris that might have been trapped at their foundations in the river.

Meanwhile, express boats and other vessels leaving on afternoon trips to Kapit had to delay their trips.

Those who left this morning, had to stop somewhere safe along the route.

-- Bernama

Source: Malaysiandigest.com

URL: http://112.137.167.193/news/36-local/9739-rajang-river-still-innavigable-due-to-massive-floating-debris.html

River disaster hits Sarawak

By PHILIP HII
philiphii@thestar.com

SIBU: A major environmental disaster is unfolding in the state, as kilometre after kilometre of logs and wood debris flow down the Rajang.

It was believed that heavy rain in the upper reaches of Balleh River – a tributary of the Rajang – had caused landslides at log ponds of a major timber camp and brought down the logs and wood debris.

Kapit businessman Tay Hock Joo, who telephoned The Star in Sibu yesterday evening, said nobody in Kapit had ever seen such an occurrence before.

He said the residents first noticed the debris at about 1pm.

Environmental catastrophe: Tonnes of logs and wood debris drifting down the mighty Rajang River near Kapit Thursday, temporarily trapping a ferry and its passengers.

River transport was cut off when logs and debris started filling the entire width of the river by 4pm.

At 7.30pm, the debris was reported to have reached Song and was expected to hit Sibu early in the morning.

Sibu residents are worried by the extent of damage the logs and wood debris would cause to their properties such as jetties and boats.

“We are also worried whether the foundation of the Durin and Lanang bridges are strong enough to withstand the pressure,” said Sibu resident Simon Ting.

Meanwhile, several government officials said the authorities were unprepared for such an incident as it had never happened before and they also did not have the capacity to stop the wood from flowing downstream towards Sibu.

Source: The Star
URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2010%2F10%2F8%2Fnation%2F7186693&sec=nation