Its director, Sapuan Ahmad, said the federal AG’s Chambers had yet to act on these cases.

He said to expedite prosecution, the state government was negotiating with the Federal Government for prosecution powers to be handed down to the state AG.

“At the moment, the prosecution powers lie with the federal AG, not the state.

“For that reason, it would be better for anything involving state laws to be handled by the state AG,” he told a press conference after launching a Heart of Borneo Government Agencies Workshop here today.

On claims of illegal logging at Kampung Danu, Padawan, about 50km from Kuching, he said the preliminary investigation showed that the timber was collected in the Bengoh Range National Park and some from Native Customary Rights (NCR) land.

Once the investigations were completed and if there was evidence that the activities took place at the Bengoh Range National Park and NCR land, the case would be submitted for prosecution, he said.

Sapuan said disciplinary action had been taken against the Sarawak Forestry Corporation officer allegedly involved in the case.

Asked on claims that certain Sarawak Forestry Department enforcement officers were trying to cover up some of the illegal logging activities, he advised the public to report them to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

About 90,000 cubic metres of logs were seized in 2014 following the war against illegal logging launched the same year, while 47,000 cubic metres of logs were seized in 2015.

Sapuan hoped enforcement agencies in the state would work as a team under the blue ocean strategy to fight against illegal logging as the Forestry Department was unable to do it alone due to Sarawak’s huge forest area.

– BERNAMA