KUCHING: Two Indonesians have been sentenced to jail for three years each by the Sessions Court for illegal logging activities.
Sarawak Forest Department director Datuk Hamden Mohamad revealed that the duo was caught in Kampung Kandis Baru, Bau on Dec 26 last year.
Both accused have pleaded guilty before Judge Steve Ritikos to harvesting forest produce without a permit as contained in Section 90 (1) of the Forest Ordinance 2015 and were each sentenced under Section 90 (2) and 79 in the same ordinance to jail for 12 months.
The accused were also ordered to a fine of RM80,000 or serve another 24 months in jail if failure to pay the fine. Both of them failed to pay the fine.
“The court also ordered each of them to pay RM101,003.50 to the Sarawak government, which is ten times the value of the confiscated timber.
“According to the charge sheet, they had illegally collected 194 or 38.85 cubic meters of logs in various sizes and species without a permit,” he said, adding that all the logs have been seized by the department’s enforcement team.
Hamden advised the public not to engage in any illegal logging activities as if they were found guilty, they will be severely punished.
The Forest Department is well equipped with state of the art equipment and a competent enforcement team that is always monitoring to control the forest and its resources at any time.
“Should the public have any information regarding any suspicious logging activities, they should channel them to the department immediately,” he told.
