The Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) said it will revoke 'sustainable forest management certification' awarded to state forestry departments, if it is shown that they have been lax in complying with standards.

Senior manager Harnarinder Singh said grievances should be directed to the appropriate government agencies for investigation.

He said the MTCC can revoke certification if investigations prove that major "corrective action requests" are repeatedly ignored by state forestry departments that are supposed to monitor logging activities under their jurisdiction.

Stringent environmental, bio-degradability, social and econonomic standards are set under the MTCC's Criteria, Indicators, Activities and Standards of Performance for Forest Management Certification (MC & I) released in October 2001.

MTCC is "the only third-party body in the country" that can certify timber exports as coming from sustainable forest sources.

"If the forest management unit (FMU) of each state forestry department refuses to carry out corrective action and is not meeting the conditions (of MC & I), then they do not warrant a certification from us. If nothing is done, then you can forget about the whole thing (of certification)," he said when contacted today.

Harnarinder was commenting on complaints that a contractor had contravened MC & I requirements attached to the logging licence, while extracting timber from the ancestral land of four Semai villages in Sungkai, Perak.

Pollution sources

In clarifying MTCC's role, Harnarinder said the council does not conduct 'surveillance audits' of any FMU, such as that in Perak.

This function is carried out every six to 12 months by a number of 'assessor companies' working with the state forestry departments.

"MTCC certification is not done for every logging licence issued, but awarded to states that have FMUs, said Harnarinder.

He also said every state's FMU has a dispute-resolution mechanism to look into issues of compliance, or otherwise, with certification terms.

As such, any group that feels that logging companies are going against the conditions of certification should submit the complaints to the respective state forestry departments or district land offices so that these can be investigated.

Harnarinder said the Semai villagers in Sungkai should refrain from jumping the gun in blaming every environmental pollution on logging companies, as some environmental changes or negative effects may be caused by their own activities.

"We have to be fair to people, but people have also to be fair to us. They should go through the proper channels so that these allegations can be investigated," he said.

"It's not only the logging companies that cause pollutions to rivers. In Sungkai, there are several Orang Asli settlements, some of which have cleared land and planted oil palm. The pollution of the river could originate from such activities. We have to investigate to determine the source."

Last week, Centre for Orang Asli Concerns executive director Dr Colin Nicholas said MC & I prohibits environmental degradation and stipulates the protection of indigenous groups' cultural and religous rights.

He said foreign buyers may be duped into believing that the timber logged from the affected areas in Sungkai comes from sustainably managed forests.