KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Environmental Trust (SET) hopes that the 2023 Budget will take into consideration allocating a certain percentage of fines collected for the offences committed, to the relevant agencies or state government.
It also wants the relevant forest reserves be declared as ‘closed’ forests under the Forestry Enactment 1968.
SET chief executive officer Dr Rahimatsah Amat said there were several legislations in Sabah, namely, the Forestry Enactment 1968, Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997, Parks Enactment 1984 and Environmental Protection Enactment 2002 that could contribute such revenue to the relevant agencies or the state.
He said to date, if found guilty by the court for the offences, fines were imposed with the collection going into the federal consolidated account.
“The agencies of the state or the state itself do not get a single cent. Thus, you get to see more and more of such offences settled via compounds which normally will be so small and with no record.
“Fines under the courts (including taxes) are a federal matter, thus the state has no authority over these fines,” he told Bernama.
However, according to Rahimatsah, there was a precedent with regard to the Tourism Tax Act 2017, whereby the collection from foreign tourists from Malaysian hotel rooms per room per night charges since 2017 was shared with all the states in Malaysia.
“Sabah collected a huge amount, with 50 per cent of that amount returned to the state government,” he said, adding that it was however put on hold during the pandemic in 2020 but hoped that it would be revived in 2023 for the state’s efforts in improving the facilities in Sabah.
Rahimatsah said the matter was also highlighted during the Budget 2023 Roadshow dialogue with Deputy Finance Minister Yamani Hafez Musa on Aug 28 at Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
On the need to declare the relevant forest reserves as ‘closed’ forests, Rahimatsah said currently the forest reserves in Sabah were ‘open’ for encroachment by opportunists or poachers, as only those caught with the ‘forest produce’ could be prosecuted.
“Thus, it is essential that entry into the forest reserves be handled appropriately, such as declaring the relevant forest reserves as ‘closed’ forests.
“Therefore, it is necessary that based on the Rules of Section 42(1) (a) (ii) of the Forest Enactment 1968, the government declare that all the areas identified as of high conservation value, as ‘closed’ forests,” he said.
Rahimatsah also hoped that the federal authority will take accommodative steps to work out with the state government on nominating Danum Valley, Maliau Basin and Imbak Canyon (DaMal) Rainforest Landscape(DRL) as a natural World Heritage Site (WHS).
He said Maliau Basin was initially proposed for nomination as a WHS by the then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during the motion to table the Mid-term Review of the Eighth Malaysia Plan in October 2003.
During a state Cabinet meeting on June 22, 2011 it was approved for DaMal to be nominated as a WHS and to be led by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment (MTCE).
“The task force submitted the nomination dossier to MTCE in early 2014 but somehow, there were issues at the national level with the focal agency as the proposed site was not listed under the National Heritage Act 2005.
“Due to the prolonged issues with the focal agency, the state government deferred the nomination via a cabinet meeting on June 22, 2017.
Rahimatsah said on July 18, 2018 the state cabinet approved to reopen the nomination process, thus continuous engagement with the stakeholders and focal agency needed to be continued. – BERNAMA
