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I raise to take part in the debate on the Forests (Amendment) Bill. Before I proceed to the Forests (Amendment) Bill, 1996, I would like on behalf of DAP Sarawak to congratulate the appointment of the Speaker in this House by the Yang di-Petua Negeri Sarawak. You will preside a sitting of the House and the same to the Deputy Speaker and it is a tradition, once appointed, you are acting impartially and not only become totally impartial but it seems to be so.

One very famous Speaker, Horace King once comment on matters in which the the Chair should use its discretion in the exercise of power, and I quote:

?The scope of debate varies to some extent with the person. If some innocent person wandered out of order, I hope that none of my colleagues will call him to order too soon. I hope they will remember the advice I received from a very old parliamentarian. If a Member gets out of order, let him say something or what he wants to say before you call him back to order. If someone however is deliberately using this means and is going out of order to frustrate the work of the Parliament or the Dewan, if he is making a speech which is designed to obstruct, then, I will say, apply the rules and orders strictly and tie him down to the last sentence and the last comma.?

I now return to the Forests (Amendment) Bill, 1996. As rightly pointed out by the Honourable Chief Minister, the Sarawak forests potential got to be tap and to such an extent we have to implement sustainable forests management in Sarawak. For once, I will never agree with the foreign mass media to paint a gloomy picture about our Sarawak forests management, people like Bruno Manser, Anderson Mutang who is now, I believe in Canada who let his fellow Sarawakians, to work for the foreign media and paint a gloomy picture about our Sarawak forests management. That is very dishonoured and disloyal towards the country as well. I am very pleased to hear in this august House that our forests management, I will say, after the Ming Court affair 1987, our forests management is gradually improving and with the 1990 ITTO recommendations. I am proud that we have made some headway in our forests management. (Applause)

ITTO?s mission to Sarawak, is to assess whether our forests management is sustainable and the mission assessment report, paragraph 252 say that the mission?s overall assessment is that sustainable forestry in Sarawak can be achieved and is being achieved in some respect but ?is failing in others.? So, that is, ?what is failing in others.? We have got to improve it. We need to tap our natural forest resources to our fullest advantage. I support for the opening up of the downstream timber industries. We should have done that 15 years ago but we are not too late, at least we are on that direction and the sustainable downstream timber based industries is the great potential for the Sarawak economy towards Wawasan 2020.

When I attended the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and the Honourable Chief Minister was also there, there was a document passed during the Earth Summit. The document is The Non-Legal Binding Authoritative Statement of Principle For Forest Management where global consensus on the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests. Before the Rio Earth Summit there was a lot of debates whether this forest principle is going to be a binding or non-legal binding. Because of the pressure from the countries from the North, eventually the document was reduced to a Non-Legal Binding Authorities Statement of Principle.

There are a few points in that principle which I would like to let this august House know and that?s it. Firstly, the provision of timely, reliable, accurate information on forests and forests eco-system is essential for public understanding and informed decision making.

Secondly, government should promote and provide opportunities for the participation of interested party including local communities and indigenous people, industry level, non-governmental organisation and individual forests dweller and movement in the development, implementation and planning of natural forests policy. The national policy and strategy should provide a framework for increase effort including the development and strengthening of institution and programme for the management, conservation and sustainable development of forests and forests land.

All aspects of environmental protection in socio-economic development as they relate to forests and forests land should be integrated and comprehensive. The vital role of all type of forests in maintaining the ecological process and balance as the local, national regional and global level through inter-alia, their role in protecting fragile eco-system, water shed and fresh water resources and rich storehouse on bio-diversity and biological resources and sources of genetic material for bio-technology products as well as photosynthesis should be recognised.

The role of planted forests and permanent agriculture crop is a sustainable and environmentally source of renewable energy. Their contribution to the maintenance of ecological system to all setting pressure on primary or growth forests and providing regional employment and development with the adequate involvement of local inhabitants should be recognised and enhanced.

BORNEO PULP & PAPER SDN. BHD.

I just heard the Honourable Chief Minister said the pulp and paper industry and recently in the papers, I read that Sarawak will have its first forests estate when a joint venture company, Borneo Pulp and Paper Sdn. Bhd. (BPP) set out in 1998 and start producing paper and pulp. BPP is a joint venture between Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) and Asia?s biggest paper and pulp producer outside Japan, Asia Pulp and Paper Company Limited with an investment of US700 million (RM1.7 billion).

According to the General Manager of STIDC, the State Government has alienated 300,000 hectares in Bintulu to supply forest wood to the pulp factory and the factory is expected to produce more than half a million tonne of papers and pulp and create job opportunities for 25,000 people. The company was planning to plant fast growing forests, species like acacia and eucalyptus by setting up its own nursery in Bintulu. About 20% to 30% of the pulp produced by the mill in Bintulu or between 100,000 tones to 150,000 tones will be used in Malaysia and the rest export to countries in Asia. The demand for Malaysia is between 1.6 million to 1.7 million tones annually and demands forecast for Malaysia by year 2000 was over three million tones per year.

However, there are reports in various countries where large scales of eucalyptus planting has a very diverse and bad effect on ecological and environmental impact. The government should conduct more researches into the area and find ways and means to mitigate such effects.

There were a number of incidences in India and Thailand where the respective governments implement the tree plantations in respect of acacia and eucalyptus planting in Thailand and India. There were wide spread of protests and basically, the local community has not been consulted or invited to participate in the project. Eventually especially in Thailand the whole project was withdrawn by the Thai Government and in respect of the India case, the government went ahead with the project despite the protest by the local community.

One thing we have to bear in mind and that is very important as we learned that the Ahli Yang Berhormat just now said, the issue here is if the area has been alienated for the paper and pulp industry for the nursery of the acacia plantation. The area must be surveyed first and make sure that a report be prepared so that the local community especially Native Customary Land properly dealt and then went ahead with the project.

Quite a number of incidents happened in respect of the oil palm plantations where the government or the private companies intend to carry out the oil palm plantations but met with severe resistance on the ground because the Native Customary Land has not been dealt properly by the company. An incident such as is Bintulu/Miri Road where the Austral Company moved into the area and get the resistance of 220 families of the Iban longhouse, not allowing the company to go ahead with the project. Another incident happened in the Selangau area, where I believed, a lot of the Ahli Yang Berhormat have read in the papers, a sub-contractor was tight up by the local community and reported to the police, because the people in that area have not been properly consulted before they implement the project.

I make this point is to urge the government, once they intend to move in to develop the area allocated for certain plantations or tree plantations, do a proper job on the ground and that is provided in this Forests (Amendment) Bill, 1996. The Regional Forest Officer is empowered to conduct the survey but this is a very, very important survey and based on their report, the department and the government is going to act on the report. So I would propose that the Regional Forests Officer has got to be properly trained legally and with all the evidence gathered during the hearings recorded in the proceedings which is provided within the section contain in the Forests (Amendment) Bill, 1996. So, the officer must be properly trained, have the personnel and the staffs to back-up the whole survey and that report would be crucial. In case of any dispute, the report would be used by the Sessions Court as provided under the amendment. Any one dispute or not satisfied with the decision can appeal to the Sessions Court. The Subordinate Courts Rules, 1980 provides the procedure for the Session Court Judge to make the decision. S.13 of amended Forests (Amendment) Bill, 1996 provides:

?Section 13: (1) Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Director may, within 30 days from the date of service of the decision on him, appeal to Session Court. (2) An appeal to a Sessions Court shall be by way of originating application and should follow the procedures prescribed by the Subordinate Courts Rules 1980. (3) Subject to the Subordinate Courts Rules 1980, a judge of the Sessions Court may give such direction as he may deem fit or necessary for the disposal or hearing of any appeal before him under this section.?

So, as I have said, the report prepared by the Regional Forest Officer is crucial and all the proceedings and documentation must be annexed to the report to which the Session Court would be based.

The paper and pulp industry in Bintulu, would cover of 200,000 to 300,000 hectares for that industry. It may even come up to half a million hectares. I would very much appreciate if the Yang Amat Berhormat Chief Minister would tell this House how many timber concessions at present are operating in the proposed area where the pulp and paper industry is to be operated in 1998.

Another crucial point is the notice gazetted to be served on the people affected under the Forests (Amendment) Bill. The notice to be served on them, that is Section 15(1) ?From the date fixed in the proclamation, the forest area stipulated therein shall be a forest reserve and shall, together with all the forest produce therein and all things found thereon belongs absolutely to the government.?

Section 17(2) provides:

?Any person affected by the notification issued, shall within 30 days from the date of publication thereof, inform the Regional Forest Officer in writing of the nature and extend of the exercise or enjoyment by him of the subsisting rights or privileges which are intended to be revoked or extinguished.? .

This section says, notice to be served within 30 days. This 30 days is from the date of publication by the Forest Officer. The 30 days period, I would say is very shot and I would very much appreciate if the time limit can be extended to 90 days (three months) for them to inform the Forest Officer. But again, if the government intend to move ahead with the project, I believe proper notice and longer time should be given to them so that they can prepare the case. It would not be easy if they can?t have enough time to prepare the report to be submitted to the Regional Forest Officer.

And Section 17(3): ?The Regional Forest Officer shall, within 30 days from the date of receipt of the information and evidence submitted under Sub-Section (2), transmit the same to the Director who, if satisfied that any person has been affected by the renovation or extinguishment of any subsisting rights or privileges, pay such compensation to him, to be assessed in accordance under Section 11.?

The notice of 30 days is rather short and if the government can amend this section to 90 days, that would give them a bit more time to prepare the proper report. It is not easy, for example, for the assessment of the fruit trees in their area, how much the cost of the reconstruction of another house, for these factors, within 30 days, it will be very, very short. Some of the members, especially, in the ulu area may have gone out to another area to work. So, they may not even be able to get a notice. Even if the longhouse people can get the notice, they may not be able to communicate that notice to that particular person who have left that longhouse to another place to work temporarily.

It is very crucial that the notice given to them should be a longer period of time. And of course, another matter I would like to point out that under the Natural Resources and Environment (Amendment) Ordinance 1993 passed by this august House in November, 1993 there are certain prescribed activities that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) got to be prepared.

So under the prescribed activities, if I may read, First Schedule, Agriculture Development. Now the question is, is this tree plantation for the pulp and paper industry agriculture plantation? Any Development of agriculture, estate or plantation of an area exceeding 500 hectares for land under secondary or primary forest or which could involve the resettlement of more than 100 families or which could involve modification in the use of land require EIA report.

So if I may quickly sum up this, that there is a handbook produced by the Natural Resources and Environment Board, in regarding the policy and basic procedure for EIA in Sarawak. And in the forward, the Honourable Chief Minister said, ?Why the protection on environment ought to be foremost in our mind? We must not lost sight of the fact that the level of protection should corresponds according to the pace of economic development in the state. To my mind, the need to protect the environment does not arise if there are no development activities. What is there to protect if the environment is intact? Hence the need to balance the state or environment in the development is a challenge to all of us, the challenge which we must face and required under the provision of the ordinance.?

Environmental protection, irrespective of whatever development is crucial. We shall not overlook or we should not neglect that the environmental impact of any project which is prescribed under the prescribed activities of EIA Sarawak. This is for the benefit of all Sarawakians and of all Malaysians. We are living harmoniously in this Land of Hornbills. We want our generation, we want our children, we want our family to continue this environmental protection in future.

So, I support the Forests (Amendment) Bill, 1996 and with some, hopefully, modification to the time frame in the Forests (Amendment) Bill as I have raised.