Ban export of NCR logs call and Activists barred

By Tony Thien

Malaysiakini

2007-11-16 | Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia) president Sidi Munan has told a consultative meeting relating to legality issues of timber exported to Europe that timber extracted from native customary rights (NCR) land should be deemed as illegal and banned from export.

Speaking at the Third Multi-stakeholder Consultation on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) in Kuching yesterday, Sidi said the proposal is to take care of the well-being of the indigenous people, preserve timber supply for their own domestic uses and to protect their water catchment areas.

Many NCR areas in Sarawak are under serious threat from commercial and logging activities, he added.

"If there is such a move (to prevent the extraction of timber from NCR areas), it will protect the livelihood of the indigenous people," he told more than 100 participants at the one-day meeting organised by the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities.

In reply, the consultative committee chairperson said the points mentioned by the NGO would be noted during the negotiation to determine the final agreement with EU.

Stringent requirements

Malaysia , one of the world's largest producers and exporters of timber and timber products, is concerned about issues such as social, environmental and economic factors that are increasingly being raised by importing countries, especially in Europe. And see the need to meet their requirements.

Under the FLEGT Voluntary Agreement (VPA) between the European Union and Malaysia, assurance of legal timber exported to the EU can be provided using licences issued by Malaysia, according to a senior official of the Ministry.

The licences will be underpinned by a timber legality assurance system (LAS) to be developed or agreed upon under the VPA.

Under the VPA with Malaysia, the definition for legal timber is 'timber harvested by licensed person from approved areas and timber and timber products exported in accordance with the laws, regulations and procedures pertaining to forestry, timber industry and trade of Malaysia.'

Timber products under the VPA refer to logs, sawn timber, veneer and plywood. European Union countries is a growing market for Malaysian timber.

Activists barred

Meanwhile, a Sibu-based NGO told the meeting that at least six social activists -- five from Peninsular Malaysia and one from Sabah -- who are directly related to the process of pushing only for legal timber to be exported are barred from entering Sarawak.

Ideal head Wong Meng Chuo told Malaysiakini later that the six who had been barred from entering the state at least once in the past were Colin Nicholas (Centre of Orang Asli Concerned), Carol Yong, Mina K Rahman (SAM), Jenny Lasimbang (Pacos, Sabah), Dr Kua Kiat Soon (Suaram) and Tan Johan (Komas).

Organisers of the consultative committee insisted however that none of the NGO representatives invited to the meeting were on the list banned by the state authorities from entering.

Wong said the actual position was that those NGO representatives directly related to the consultative process on the definition of the legality of timber for export, among other things, would not come because to the best of their knowledge they were still black-listed by the state immigration authorities.

A spokesperson for Pacos told Malaysiakini by phone from Kota Kinabalu today that Lasimbang was prevented from entering Miri, Sarawak in 2001 to attend a workshop on indigenous land rights in Baram.

"When she arrived at the Miri airport the immigration authorities informed her she had to take the next flight," the Pacos official said, adding that they eventually allowed her to stay overnight in Miri on condition she took the first flight out to Kota Kinabalu the next day.

Lasimbang is now secretary-general of the Asean Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) based in Bangkok, Thailand.