CONTROVERSY OVER BBC REPORT ON MALAYSIAN DEFORESTATION

An online organisation called Deforestation Watch has taken offence at a 

report which was aired on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. 

It accuses Malaysian plantation giant IOI of land grabbing, in cahoots with 

the Sarawak government. 

The end of the jungle?

By Angus Stickler 

BBC Today programme

The Malaysian government and the palm oil industry has been accused

of laying waste to last remaining rainforests of Borneo in what has been 

described as a corporate land grab.  

A BBC investigation has uncovered evidence of the latest jungle 

clearance - where vast tracts of land are being bulldozed to make 

way for plantations. Indigenous tribes say they are being driven 

from their lands.

Palm oil is found in household products including soap and margarine

Malaysia sells its sustainable palm oil to the world. A slickly produced 

advert, banned in the UK by the Advertising Standards Authority, 

proclaims that palm oil is "a gift from nature - a gift for life."

Palm oil production in Malaysian Borneo - Sarawak - is on an industrial

scale. One of the major producers is the IOI Group, a global player 

serving markets in more than 65 countries.

Palm oil is found in one-in-ten supermarket products: from margarine

to soap and shampoo. Last year, IOI turned over more than £2.5bn.

Devastated land

Most of the oil plantations in the part of Sarawak I visited are controlled 

from IOI's base camp in Tejab. Here you can get a sense of the scale 

of the company's operations, with mile upon mile of oil palms as far as

 the eye can see in every direction, all of which used to be rainforest.

"What is the government priority? It's greed"

Harrison Ng

But though, from a distance, the plantations look quite green 

and lush, in reality they are barren: the life has basically gone.

It's estimated that only 3% of the primary rainforest of Malaysian 

Borneo remains.

Logging has devastated much of the land, but now campaigners say

the palm oil plantations have taken over.

And it's not just the forest that's gone. Since the early 1990s whole communities

have left - driven, they say, from their farms.

Read the full report here     

When I went online to check out Deforestation Watch it appears to be 

a nameless and faceless organisation. You can check them out here

I'm naturally very suspicious of any site that boasts that it's greening

the earth, which this site does. It's all very reminiscent of the late 80s and

early 90s when many oil palm plantations had greening the earth 

posters and mottos as propaganda under Mahathir's administration

to counter international critisism of Malaysia's management of its

rainforests. Indeed, I suspect this organisation has been set up by 

the oil palm lobby.  The statistics they throw back at the BBC are 

unsubstantiated in terms of no source being given.  I think they also

miss the point that what the BBC report says is that there's only about

3 percent of PRIMARY forest remaining in Sarawak which wouldn't 

surprise me at all.  I live in Ulu Selangor in the foothills of the main range

and although the hills are covered with trees, there's not a single primary 

rainforest tree in sight until you reach Taman Negara.

The other issue that Deforestation Watch haven't taken onboard is the

impact of oil palm plantations, or any other monoculture, on bio-diversity, 

which is the key to the health and well being of all species on this planet

including homo sapiens.

I tend to have much more faith in the BBC (who stand to benefit nothing

from this report) and their chief source, Harrison Ngau who has been 

actively involved in rainforest issues in Sarawak for more than 20 years, 

than I have in some mystery organisation.

Anyway you can check out both sides of this spat and decide for yourself

and if anyone has some information on Deforestation Watch, 

I'd be glad if you would share it here.

MOUNTAINS OUT OF MOLEHILLS

Even though district councilor Chua Yee Ling and some Majlis Daerah Hulu Selangor enforcement officers ordered the road project stopped two days ago, Mr. Tan's workers were still going flat out today. I’m glad they didn’t just walk off the site. At least they’ve put down several layers of stone chips, otherwise the whole place would be awash with mud as it’s been raining a lot this week.

Some people may think I’m making a mountain out of a molehill about the illegal road in Kg. Pertak, but the reason I am making a fuss about it is because the road is being constructed with no regard for the environment. I’m not opposed to the road per se, in fact as far as I’m concerned, it’s Orang Asli land so it’s their decision and if someone wants to build them a road I say, why not? so long as you do it properly.

The problem of course is that it’s turned into a game of political one-upmanship with the Selangor state government left in the unenviable position of having to put a halt to the project (because strictly speaking it’s illegal) and at the same time alienate the Orang Asli big time. After all, who do you think they’ll vote for at the next election, the ones who offered them the road or the ones who stopped it?

If this road was intended as a sincere gift to the Asli then why didn’t the developers apply for a permit from the state government? The Pakatan state government would be pretty dumb to refuse, knowing how unpopular that would make them with the Asli and if the road was legal, the state government could have insisted that it was built properly and that the environmental impact was minimal.

As it is, there are now several trees in danger of falling because the slopes, that their roots were helping to stabilize, have been undermined. So be prepared for lots of road closures. I wonder whose going to be responsible for maintenance?

To make matters worse, mounds of earth, rocks and organic debris have been dumped along the riverside edge pretty much along the whole length of the road. Some of this has already found its way into the river and it’s only a matter of time before the rest follows. This river flows directly into the Selangor Dam reservoir, which supplies drinking water to KL. It’s already heavily silted up after only 8 years in operation so this extra load won’t be welcome.

Then, to cap it all, numerous small streams intersected the original trail that they have widened into the new road. In fact the trail often resembled a small river during heavy rainfall. As the road is being constructed without any proper drainage, I don’t see how any surface they apply could survive for very long with streams flowing under it.

So while this political myopia continues the environmental damage continues apace and very few people seem to be concerned about it. They have retreated to their political corners for a face-off.  I hope that some form of sanity prevails and that whoever is behind the construction offers an apology to the state government for disrespecting their authority and retrospectively applies for a permit. Then I hope that the state government accepts the apology and gives a permit but insists the road is built properly. These simple steps would turn a negative situation into a positive one. The Asli would get their road and it would be properly constructed to minimize environmental impact. Both BN and PKR would emerge as heroes; BN for paying for it and PKR for allowing it to be built…yes I know, pure fantasy, but I live in hope!

Of course if the Orang Asli had legal rights to their ancestral lands none of this would have happened in the first place but that’s a different story…

THE CONTINUING SAGA OF THE ROAD TO NOWHERE

The Road to Nowhere saga started on September 4, 2009. You can catch up on the story so far here.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009 – KG. PERTAK

Mr Tan’s workers were back again today to finally remove the fallen tree that has been blocking the ‘new road’ for more than a week now. They dumped all the debris on the river-facing slope and when I caught up with them they were busy extending the road they had stared on September 4th… the one that the Selangor State government says is illegal… so I asked to see their permit and the excavator driver proudly produced a photocopy of one to show me – he even held it up so I could photograph it. Here it is:

When contacted, district councillor Chua Yee Ling said she had personally checked with the land office in KKB and it had no record of any permit issued to develop this road. The forestry department and the water authority are also in the dark, which is strange considering this area is part of the catchment area for the Selangor Dam. So, Yee Ling told me, as far as the Selangor State government is concerned, the operation is illegal.

The permit is from the ICU in the PM's department. It's addressed to an UMNO member residing in the nearby town of KKB and is signed on behalf of the state development office as you can see below:

So what's going on? First of all, I'm suspicious of the document's authenticity. Take a close look at the top right hand corner... you can almost see the Tipp-Ex!

Secondly, if the permit is for real, then it looks as though UMNO are putting the proverbial two fingers up to the elected state government and are attempting to undermine the authority of elected state exco member for the environment, Elizabeth Wong.

Why else would the PM's department, or UMNO for that matter, take an interest in constructing an access road for a small handful of indigenous people? And if they are genuine, then why didn't they go through the proper channels and seek approval from the state government, the forestry department and the water authority? And why is the road so wide? It's supposed to be an access road to the Orang Asli's dusuns. And why aren't they putting in any drainage? Don't they want it to last?

I really hope the Selangor state government can get to the bottom of this. Otherwise a chunk of the environment is going to get destroyed - and for what? The area is already prone to landslips, and with no proper drainage and no strengthening of the slopes, I'd estimate that the kind of road they are constructing will last 2-3 months tops.

Oh, by the way, how much is all this costing?

Debris from the tree fall dumped on the riverside slope.

Illegal road works ahead!