Is it a case of DAP being overly enthusiastic about discovering illegal logging in a Johor forest when forestry officials are only carrying out their duties? Or is there, in fact, hanky-panky going on under the guise of clearing trees for the safety of eco-tourists?

According to the opposition party's state chairperson Dr Boo Cheng Hau, they have evidence of illegal logging being carried out with the cooperation of officials from the Segamat district forestry department.

Acting upon reports by locals living in and around Bekok, Labis, Boo and a team of state DAP leaders visited the Sungai Bantang Recreational Forest last Sunday. They claimed to have discovered logging being carried out near and on the banks of the Bantang River.

According to Boo, about 100-150 trees were being felled by loggers working for a local contractor under the supervision of the district forestry officials. Trucks and excavators were used to dig up the trees and transport them to the main road, he alleged.

Boo said the loggers and officials left the scene upon being confronted by the DAP members, but not before presenting the written permission acquired from the forest district office to conduct the clearing works.

The letter, signed by forestry district officer Azmer Mohamad, stipulated that the contractor was to fell and dispose of 'more or less 15 acacia trees' situated at the car park of the forest that were posing a danger to visitors in the area.

Not widespread

Acacia trees were not the only variety being logged, said Boo, who furnished a picture of the trunk of a meranti tree that had been felled (photo below). The average meranti tree weighing about six to seven tons can fetch more than RM1,000 per ton, he noted.

Additional pictures were also taken later that showed the loggers and district officials resuming their activities even at night. A police report were filed that day by the DAP at the Bekok police station.

Azmer declined to comment when contacted by malaysiakini. State forestry director Abdul Rahman Abdul Rahim could not be reached for a statement.

One forestry official admitted, however, that illegal logging was occurring in Johor's forests, but were isolated cases and not widespread.

In the Bantang River Recreational Forest case, tree-felling was completely legitimate and in the interests of visitors, said the official.

"If we don't do anything and something happens, we will be blamed. But when we try to prevent an untoward incident, they accuse us with these claims," he said. He also vehemently denied that trees other than acacia were felled.

He explained that the forestry district office was not in the financial position to compensate the contractor for the clearing work, which is the reason why they were allowed to take out the felled trees and sell at a profit.

In response to a claim by Boo that the logging contravened forestry regulations as it was being carried out within 20 meters of the banks of Sungai Bantang, the official said while such logging was indeed illegal, the felling of the trees was part of the authorities' operational activities and was not logging per se.

He added that the activities had to resume later in the evening because one of the trucks had broken down earlier and could not be brought out.

Cause of the floods

Boo, however, was not convinced with the official's explanation. According to him, there were many dead trees and other trees whose branches were in danger of falling on visitors but were left untouched by the workers.

"Why did they dig up the trees whole using excavators when they could just have cut them?" he asked.

"Furthermore, the clearance area is very far away from the car park. Visitors do not go anywhere near there because of the steep slope. What dangers are they talking about?" he posed.

Boo also insisted that it was a forestry expert, a former certified logger, who had pointed out the meranti trees to the DAP members.

"It's up to the forestry department to prove to us everything is above board. On our part, we have the pictures to prove our claims," said Boo.

The DAP leader had earlier asserted that illegal logging was among the reasons behind the prolonged and unprecedented floods in Segamat and Kota Tinggi.

Seventeen people died and more than 90,000 were evacuated at the height of the floods.