The Star Online: Metro: Central
The Star Online: Metro: Central |
| Dept nabs four thieves stealing mangrove in Pulau Kelang Posted: 24 Jun 2011 06:31 AM PDT FOUR thieves were caught in the act of transporting 500 mangrove logs estimated at RM5,000 from Pulau Kelang, off Port Klang, during a raid on Wednesday. The culprits, who are foreigners, will be detained for a week. They were caught loading mangrove logs into a boat in Pulau Kelang. Besides detaining the culprits, the Selangor Forestry Department also seized two boats. State Forestry Department assistant director (operations and enforcement) Mohd Yussainy Md Yusop said the thieves were on the island for three days to cut the mangrove trees. "They then stored the mangrove logs by the edge of the bank on the island and waited for the boat — which could only be used during high tide — to load the mangrove logs. The final destination was a few kilometres away where the lorries waited to cart them away to be sold," he said. He added that the week-long surveilance on the area by his men paid off as they were able to catch the culprits red-handed. "The raid was conducted jointly with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (APMM) and they are now working hand-in-hand to apprehend the culprits cutting and stealing mangrove logs in an island off Pulau Ketam. "When The Star earlier highlighted on the illegal logging of mangrove trees in the island near Pulau Ketam, it stopped for four months. Mangrove logs bring in lucrative profits and the operators are now back in action,'' said Yussainy. The thieves will be charged under the National Forestry Act 1984 and if found guilty would be fined up to RM50,000 each and jailed not more than five years or both. Yussainy also added that it was also timely as forestry enforcement directors in all the states attended a two-day course at the Royal Yacht Club in Port Klang and joined the raid to see how it was conducted. "Selangor will be used as a benchmark by forestry departments in other states to check on the stealing of mangrove logs,'' he said. Pahang Forestry Department assistant director (enforcement) Razali Abdu Raman said the partnership between APMM and Selangor Forestry made it easy to nab the culprits. The raid was well coordinated with the use of water and air surveillance. "As for Pahang Forestry Department, we have 30 personnel and will hold joint operations to catch thieves stealing timber. "There are illegal small timber operators who love to steal valuable trees mainly Chengal, Balau and Giam from the forest. We can work with the locals to catch the culprits,'' he said. Perak Forestry Department assistant director (enforcement) Osman Deris said the state had more than 9,000ha of forest that included mangrove swamps but only had 10 workers. "We need the help from authorities like APMM to help us in curbing the stealing of our natural resources like mangrove. We have a budget of RM550,000 and we carry out air surveillance throughout the state twice a week,'' he said. The StarMetro exposed this issue in the report "Mangrove Crooks" on Aug 30 last year, showing the modus operandi of thieves stealing mangrove logs in Selangor and how they avoided being detected by the authorities. Yussainy said since the news report, his department had stepped up measures to catch the thieves. "Between July last year and Jan 15 this year, nine people have been prosecuted for smuggling, while the department had seized more than 200,000 logs." He added that when the department checked with the Indonesian authorities on mangrove logs, they claimed that there was a ban (still in force) of mangrove logs leaving their country. He added that the Selangor Forestry Department had stopped the issuance of licences to allow the harvesting of mangroves in July last year. "However, the illegal activities are still rampant and we urge other states to stop issuing permits for operators to chop down mangrove trees," Yussainy said. |
| Apartment dwellers without water since Monday Posted: 24 Jun 2011 06:31 AM PDT SENIOR citizen Chong Ying, 79, has to walk few hundred metres to a nearby temple to get water despite paying her bills in advance. She and the rest of the residents of Pangsapuri Anggerik in Taman Suria, Serdang Lama, have been without water supply since Monday afternoon. There are 260 units in the 12-storey low-cost apartment block that was built to house former squatters in 2006. Serdang BN chairman Datuk Liew Yuen Keong, who received the complaint on Wednesday, found out that the apartment's management owed arrears of RM62,000 to Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas). Chong has been paying her monthly maintenance fees, which includes her water bills on time and has even paid until August. "This is the fourth water cut since in 2006," she said. Fellow resident Ng Chai Moi, said it was unfair that those who paid their bills on time had to suffer along with others who did not. "I am still young and have the strength to transport water back to my apartment but how about the elderly? "Furthermore, one of the elevators has not being working for over a year," the 53-year-old construction worker said. As a temporary measure, Liew has requested Syabas to send a tanker to provide water for the apartment dwellers. "However, due to the massive water cut in PJ and KL, there is a shortage of water tankers," he said. He urged residents to form a Joint Management Body (JMB) that could represent the voices of the people. "When I was the Seri Kembangan assemblyman, there was a JMB but it was later discontinued due to lack of co-operation. "Only a JMB has the authority to handle issues like failure of paying maintenance bills," he said. He urged apartment dwellers to install individual meters to prevent a recurrence of the problem. "There are two benefits — first, you get to enjoy 20 cubic metres of free water from the state government, and you will pay a lower tariff of 50sen as opposed to the 82 for bulk meters; Secondly, you won't be affected if others do not pay their bills," he said. |
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