Six ships laden with illegal logs enter Malaysia daily

Six ships laden with illegal logs enter Malaysia daily

Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Samarinda, East Kalimantan

Six ships laden with illegal logs enter Malaysia territory daily
from Indonesia, costing the Indonesian timber industry dearly, an
official has said.

Nusyirwan Ismail, an official at the East Kalimantan
Development and Social Welfare Office, recently lamented that no
action has ever been taken by law enforcers, although the
practice was so evident.

"I witnessed it myself in Tawao. Illegal logs from East
Kalimantan were transported to Malaysia and were openly traded by
Malaysian companies. Strangely enough, there have never been any
steps taken by Indonesian officials to curb this practice," he
said.

He estimated that every day there were six ships fully laden
with illegal logs from East Kalimantan entering Tawao.

The illegal logs, still uncut, were believed to be transported
from Berau regency in East Kalimantan.

"The logs, which are illegal, would be processed later into
timber, ready to be certified and sold to various countries,
legally," he said.

He said that there were two points used as the illegal trade
routes, which are at Malinau regency's border with the Malaysian
state of Sarawak and Nunukan, which borders Tawao. At the Nunukan
border, ships carrying logs illegally always have two flags. When
they are in Indonesian waters they would use the Indonesian flag
and when they are in Malaysian waters, they would fly the
Malaysian flag.

He could not estimate the losses suffered by the state, but
certainly, the illegal trade has affected the Indonesian timber
industry. The international market prefers the processed wood
from Malaysia, because it is certified. While, the international
market tends to avoid buying processed wood from East Kalimantan,
because in most cases, it is considered illegal.

"Why is it that East Kalimantan is looked at as an environment
destroyer by the international community? Not only that, they
have also rejected wood from East Kalimantan which they say is
illegal. That's clearly discrimination. Why is the Malaysian wood
used in the timber industry never declared illegal?," he said.

Separately, executive director of the Indonesian Forum for the
Environment (Walhi), Syarifuddin said that it was not an uncommon
occurrence anymore that Indonesian logs were entering Malaysia
illegally every day. But the situation has not been taken
seriously by law enforcers.

The illegal logging trade has strained relations between
Indonesia and Malaysia, as Indonesia accused Malaysia of
purchasing illegal logs from Indonesia.

Malaysian authorities have rejected the accusation.