KL nabs 120 RI Illegal wood traders

KL nabs 120 RI Illegal wood traders

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia has arrested 120 Indonesian timber traders over the past
year in a crackdown on the illegal logging trade, the primary
industries ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Despite a ban on exports of logs, Indonesian traders continued
to bring logs and square logs into Malaysia, Bernama news agency
cited the ministry as saying.

Malaysia was prepared to cooperate with Indonesia which was
experiencing illegal logging problems but said the onus was on
Indonesia to deal with the illegal trade domestically, the agency
added.

The statement follows a report on Saturday that several
environmental groups were planning to file a petition to certify
that Malaysia was undermining a convention on international trade
in endangered species.

Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, Rainforest Action Network and
Earth Justice were among the group that signed the letter to U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell that alleged Malaysian officials
were violating the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species.

Lim Keng Yaik, primary industries minister on Sunday declined
to comment on the petition by the environment groups, saying: "My
ministry has issued a statement."

Last week, Indonesian non-governmental organization Telapak
and the London-based Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) said
in a report some 4,500 cubic meters of ramin wood -- a protected
species -- is smuggled each month from Indonesia's Jambi province
to Malaysia's Johor Baru.

The report highlighted rampant illegal logging activities in
Indonesia.

But the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta doubted the validity of
Telapak-EIA report and asked for evidence on illegal logging and
the involvement of Malaysian citizens.

Malaysia had imposed a ban on the importation of logs and
square logs from Indonesia effective June 25, 2002 following a
request by Indonesia which had also banned the export of logs.

Kuala Lumpur said it would continue to support Jakarta to
battle illegal timber trade in the spirit of international and
regional cooperation.