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BKK POST: SALWEEN SCANDAL
February 18, 1998
SALWEEN SCANDAL
FIO is laundering
logs, says speaker
Auctions give illicit timber legal status
Post reporters
The Forest Industry Organisation is partly to blame for the
destruction in the Salween area, the Senate speaker said
yesterday.
Auctions held by the FIO to clear seized logs only encouraged
further felling, said Meechai Ruchupan.
Operators let authorities seize illegal logs and then buy them at
auction, when they have legal status, said Mr Meechai, calling for
a ban on the sales.
Furthermore, controls must be applied to projects that involve
felling to ensure the operators have no claim to the resulting
timber.
Mr Meechai said a 50-member public/private sector panel
should be set up and assigned to inspect project sites before
construction to designate areas where trees can be cut and mark
those that should be saved.
Trees felled must belong to the government which must keep
them for public use, he said. "This would help get rid of people
who initiate projects simply because benefits from timber are
huge."
He doubted the change of status of the Salween National Park in
Mae Hong Son to a wildlife sanctuary, as suggested by Pongpol
Adireksarn, the agriculture and co-operatives minister, would
help halt the logging.
On Monday, Pol Gen Salang Bunnag, chief of the deforestation
prevention and suppression unit and a deputy police chief, said
the FIO was helping criminals "launder" logs.
Narong Sukree, the FIO chief, rejected the accusation, saying
Pol Gen Salang was looking for a scapegoat for his "failure to
suppress felling in protected areas".
Mr Narong said he was stunned by the accusation because it
was Pol-Gen Salang who asked the FIO to help remove
evidence from the forests during task force raids in protected
areas last year.
"Pol-Gen Salang may forget he asked us to support suppression
in Salween and even gave me a letter thanking for our
collaboration." he said.
Mr Narong said the FIO was only involved in hauling
confiscated logs. In the case of evidence from the Salween, they
were hauled to Ayudhaya before bids were called in Bangkok.
"Without the FIO will police and forestry officials sell confiscated
timber and other evidence at the scene? If so, the consequences
would be disastrous as no one would witness the sales," said Mr
Narong.
Since last year, illegal logs confiscated from Salween totaling
2,494 cu m were sold through bids organised by the FIO and
fetched 48 million baht.
The remaining 13,000 logs gathered at Salween national park
had import seals so their origin could be checked at the Customs
Department.
He identified the companies that won bids to buy the logs as PC
Wood Co, SPL Co, Kij Charoen Wattana Co, Sermwong Saw
Mill Co and Lumberjack Co.
Meanwhile, Pol Gen Salang defended himself after being
accused of negligence by the Mae Hong Son governor,
suggesting the accusation was in retaliation for his report into
logging in the province.
On Monday, Governor Phakdee Chompooming said Pol Gen
Salang neglected to act against illegal loggers and suggested he
be punished for negligence.
Pol Gen Salang, whose report pointed to irregularities involving
officials, said his unit was supplementary and took orders from
the governor.
"The Agriculture Ministry has assigned the governor as chief
investigator. My task force is a back-up unit and operates under
the governor," he said.
He also proposed felled logs found in the national park be left to
serve as a reminder of the failure of officials in curbing logging.
Suppression and prevention of illegal logging is hard because it
involves rich and influential figures, he added.
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Last Modified: Wed, Feb 18, 1998