SARAWAK Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg is keeping the state’s powerful timber barons in check, just like his predecessor Adenan Satem.

Abang Johari yesterday told them to accept the new premium on harvested logs or he would tender out the harvesting of logs from forests and logs of hill species from agri-conversion areas to other companies if they refused to accept or pay the new premium.

The timber companies were informed in an April 12 Forestry Department circular that the chargeable premium for hill timber log has been increased from 80 sen to RM50 per cubic metre.

The timber industry in the state is dominated by six companies, known as the “Big 6” – KTS, Rimbunan Hijau, Samling, Shin Yang, Ta Ann and WTK.

The timber tycoons have predictably appealed against the sharp increase.

Abang Johari’s reply was an emphatic “No”. He said the premium of 80 sen was introduced in 1986 and had not been reviewed since then.

“It was never reviewed since 1986. When we review a bit, the timber tycoons make noise.”

The premium, he said, would go to the Sarawak Education Fund and used to send Sarawak students to premier universities like Stamford in the United States or Cambridge in Britain.

Abang Johari admitted he was “angry” with the timber companies and the root cause was “they have made money but they don’t want to go into research”.

“Our timber companies promised only. They were given money for research, but they did not do it.”

He said if they had carried out the timber researches, “they would be using (timber from) industrial forests to feed their mills now”.

“That’s why I’m angry. They promised to do research when I was at the ministry of industrial development (from 1987 to 2000).

“Now I’m the chief minister and it’s still the same.”

Abang Johari said if the timber companies have no wood to feed their mills, they could not expect the government to offer concessions to harvest the natural forests.

He also said he was not afraid of negative implications from that decision as the state’s economic base had widened and no longer reliant on income from timber. – May 10, 2017.