KL lashes out at Jakarta, activists over illegal timber<\/p>\n
Agencies, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Malaysia on Friday slammed Jakarta for trying to undermine its
\nwood exports and accused U.S. activists of tarnishing its image
\nin a report alleging large-scale smuggling of Indonesian illegal
\ntimber.<\/p>\n
The report -- released this month and a focus of major United
\nNations environment talks here -- was based on \"half-truths and
\nill-conceived, sweeping conclusions that were taken out of
\ncontext,\" Primary Industries Minister Lim Keng Yaik charged.<\/p>\n
\"I wish to point out that the allegation of large-scale
\nlaundering of Indonesian logs and timber and more so with
\ngovernment's complicity is totally unfounded,\" Lim told a news
\nconference.<\/p>\n
\"We believe this was done with malicious intent to put
\nMalaysia in the bad light,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The study, Profiting from Plunder, was compiled by the
\nindependent Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and its
\nIndonesian partner Telapak, who said it was based on two years of
\ninvestigation.<\/p>\n
The EIA said it showed how endangered ramin wood was smuggled
\nfrom Indonesia into Malaysia with false documentation to be made
\ninto furniture for export.<\/p>\n
It alleged that local officials were facilitating the illegal
\ntrade and urged the United States to impose trade sanctions on
\nMalaysia.<\/p>\n
Indonesia meanwhile, called on the European Union (EU) to
\nboycott Malaysian wood products, saying the country was the
\nlargest recipient of illegally-logged Indonesian timber.<\/p>\n
\"They smuggle the wood, then 'wash' it in Malaysia and export
\nit everywhere. This is an unfair practice,\" forestry minister M.
\nPrakosa told reporters in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Ramin is a light-colored tropical hardwood native to the
\npeatswamp forests in Indonesia and Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Indonesia banned the export of ramin in August 2001 under the
\nUN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
\n(CITES) but Malaysia can trade in ramin with a CITES permit.<\/p>\n
Malaysian minister Lim said Indonesia's call for a boycott as
\nwell as the distribution of the report at the conference of
\nparties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) indicated
\n\"malicious intention\" to pressure Malaysia to ban ramin trade.<\/p>\n
Ramin production in Malaysia is sustainable managed and there
\nwas \"no danger of ramin becoming extinct,\" he said.<\/p>\n
A ban would undermine Malaysia's 1.5-billion-dollar furniture
\nindustry and its timber exports because it is difficult to tell
\nramin apart from at least five other wood species. One of them,
\nrubberwood, is used in 80 percent of Malaysian furniture, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Malaysia and Indonesia are the world's top two exporters of
\ntropical timber and last year exported timber and timber-related
\nproducts worth 16.5 billion ringgit (US$4.34 billion).<\/p>\n
\"I don't think the U.S. administration will be so stupid as to
\napprove the sanctions because the allegations are not real. It is
\nill-intentioned to pick on us at this time,\" Lim told a news
\nconference.<\/p>\n
\"Can you blame me for suspecting there is an ulterior motive
\nwhether by Indonesia or other exporting countries?\"<\/p>\n
Malaysia has banned the import of logs from Indonesia to help
\nit battle illegal logging but Lim said Jakarta lacked the will to
\nresolve the problem and has lax law enforcement.<\/p>\n
\"I am angry and running out of patience of trying to work with
\nIndonesia. They are not doing anything and their agency is
\npointing their finger at us,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Lim told AFP that Jakarta recently agreed to Malaysia's
\nrequest to revive bilateral forestry talks which was abandoned
\nfive years ago but no date has been set.<\/p>\n
\"Of course, we acknowledged that some problems still exist,
\nconsidering the long as well as porous borders and coastlines
\nbetween Malaysia and Indonesia, which we believe have constrained
\neffective enforcement work,\" the minister said.<\/p>\n
There had been 122 arrests involving illegal timber trade,
\nincluding 12 cases involving ramin, and offenders faced a
\nmandatory jail sentence, he said.<\/p>\n
Lim will meet the EIA next Wednesday to clear the air.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is home to 10 percent of the world's remaining
\ntropical forests but an area larger than Taiwan is being
\ndestroyed each year through illegal logging, the EIA report said.<\/p>",
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