No doubt forest encroached
Published on: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 | |
Kota Kinabalu: No settlements or villages have ever been recorded in the Segarong Forest Reserve (Class I Protection) that was gazetted in 1931, 80 years ago, for protection of the environment and as a water catchment for Semporna.
Forestry Director Datuk Sam Mannan said aerial photo images taken in the 1950s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s reflected the virgin and extensive forest cover of Segarong. To re-enforce its conservation status, it was re-gazetted again in 1984 in a statewide exercise.
Unfortunately, over the last 10 years, encroachments crept in with land clearing and crop cultivation, primarily oil palm, so much so that, some 160 hectares (eight per cent) of the total 2,029 hectares, have been plundered with illegal immigrant workers providing labour and a handful of locals as the ultimate beneficiaries, he said.
"Attempts to stop the encroachments in the early days met resistance and interference from various sources, thus giving spirit and moral strength to the encroachers.
"Consequently, the deforestation continued to spread.
Fortunately, the political will is now there to thwart the encroachments before the whole forest reserve disappears as a consequence of mob rule," he said in a statement, Tuesday.
Sam said notices to vacate the area had been given at numerous times over the years to the encroachers but to no avail.
Instead, forest reserve plates marking the boundary of the reserve were repeatedly destroyed and vandalised, he said, adding that not less than eight people have been arrested in Segarong. They were charged in court, penalised and jail sentences served on them in the last four years for various forest offences.
He said despite the arrests and convictions, the encroachers were adamant on annexing the area, in total disregard to the laws of the country.
Sam said there were no settlements in Segarong save for the Bird Nest collectors, who were given occupation permits by the department for their dwellings near the caves to facilitate collection during the harvesting season and to protect the caves.
Segarong is one of a number of Bird's Nest Caves in the East Coast of Sabah, for which intention, the original gazette was made.
The caves therein, are managed under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1998, in which the rights to collect birds' nest were given to a particular community since colonial days.
He also said there were no graveyards or villages in the reserve.
"The encroachers do not live in the reserve and they come from villages far away from the vicinity of Segarong.
"With increasing deforestation of lands outside the reserve system (statelands and alienated lands), the island of forest in Segarong is vital to ensure the survival and viability of the swiflet population in the Semporna Peninsula and the small bird nest industry of Semporna," he said.
Sam said the problem of encroachments, with illegal immigrants providing labour, is a serious problem in the East Coast of Sabah, with Semporna, having a very high incidence of illegal cultivation, illegal occupation and sporadic illegal tree felling for sales in the district.
Even the islands off Semporna, such as Timbun Mata, were a crucible of sporadic but widespread tree felling for planks (bantalans), he said, adding that any attempt to appease the law violators will therefore only exacerbate the situation.
Between 2003 and 2006, he said 732 people were arrested and charged for various forest offences in Sabah, with 471 or 64 per cent of them being illegal immigrants.
While from 2007 to 2010, 492 people were arrested throughout Sabah, with 274 (56 per cent) being illegals. In the case of Semporna, between 2003 and 2006, 202 people were arrested with 118 or 58 per cent being illegal immigrants. For the period 2007 to 2010, 68 illegal immigrants (44 per cent) were arrested in Semporna out of a total of 153 people.
"These statistics represent some of the highest cases of illegal immigrant related forest offences, in the State," he said, adding that if uncontrolled, the situation in Semporna would descend into environmental chaos and the majority of the people of the district will suffer, losing their natural wealth, water catchments, clean water, nature based tourism, and nature reserves, to a handful of law violators.
"This scenario cannot be accepted in a country like Malaysia, where the Rule of Law prevails," he said.
Furthermore, he said the enforcement work against such violators was not restricted to Semporna alone but is carried out successfully throughout the State, including reserves such as Ulu Kalumpang, Andrassy, Madai-Baturong, Sapagaya, Ulu Segama, Garinono and Semporna mangrove reserves amongst others.
Sam said out of the approximately 40,000 hectares of illegal oil palm in forest reserves, at least 20,000 hectares have been retrieved, destroyed and replanted with forest trees by the Forestry Department.
He added that such actions will continue and after the illegal oil palm in Segarong have been removed, the area will be rehabilitated with forest trees.
"Given that the oil palm industry is vital to the economic well being of Sabah, Sabah cannot be seen to tolerate and acquiesce to the loss of rainforests to illegal oil palm, which in the end, will jeopardise the industry as environmental pressure will result in Sabah oil palm being avoided in the world market for being "tainted"," he said.
"Whatever actions the department has taken in Segarong is for the benefit and the greater good of the majority of the people of Sabah and Semporna, in the long run," he said.
Minister in the Chief Minister's Department, Datuk Nasir Tun Sakaran had recently urged the Forestry Department to study thoroughly the problem faced by early settlers in Kg Sungai Nasip in Semporna before taking action to demolish the settlement.
Nasir, who is also Senallang Assemblyman, said the department needs to be more responsible in considering the people's welfare instead of taking drastic action to demolish their settlement.
"Don't take drastic action and give the people problem É they need to refer the matter and find a solution because the area has been gazetted as early as in 1984," he said.
Expressing disappointment with the department, Nasir urged Director, Datuk Sam Mannan to come down to the district to conduct an overview and find a way out of the issue.
Nasir was making the comment in response to the Department's action in allegedly demolishing the settlement and crops as well as graveyards of the people in Kg Sungai Nasip.
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