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.