KUCHING, May 19: Pelagus assemblyman Wilson Nyabong Ijang has called for the withdrawal and reviewing of License for Planted Forest (LPF) holders who do not comply with the planting rate.
Wilson said for the Kapit area, there is only one Native Customary Rights (NCR) land development joint venture with a private company and Land Custody and Development Authority (LCDA) at Baleh Confluence.
“I came to know that only about 2,000 hectares of NCR land had been planted with oil palm,” he said during the debate session at Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting today.
According to Wilson, in Kapit, most of the land area is either covered by timber licenses or LPF.
As such, he urged the Forest Department Sarawak and the Land and Survey Department to prepare to excise out any NCR or ‘Temuda’ or Native Territorial Domain (NTD) and longhouse from the timber license.
“Shifting Agriculture Area (SA) should also be excised out from either timber license or LPF.
“When there is no timber cutting within SA, it can act as a buffer to prevent logs debris from being washed out to the river,” he added.
Meanwhile, he also pointed out that there is no clear boundary where many longhouses and villages are within the timber license and LPF license area.
Because of this, he said, the implementation of the Forest Management Unit (FMU) and the process of gazetting the proposed protected forest by the company will meet with strong objection from the local communities because some of the FMU plate marks are about 50 feet from their longhouses.
“If we look at the timber license map, the longhouse is within the license area,” he said. — DayakDaily
