SARAWAK folk living deep in the state’s interior providing information on illegal logging will have their identities protected, Deputy Chief Minister Awang Tengah Ali Hassan said today.

According to Awang Tengah, local knowledge played an important role in helping law enforcement on top of the highly sophisticated surveillance technology used by the authorities.

“Their information could lead to quick action,” he said at the launch of Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation’s (STIDC) integrity and innovation day in Kuching today.

However, Awang Tengah, the state’s Second Minister for Natural Resources, denied there was a problem, saying everything is “under control”.

Earlier in his address, Awang Tengah said the state’s timber industry is beginning to show signs that it is pulling out of the slump caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said last year, the state’s timber industry exported RM3.89 billion in products, a 4% improvement of the 2020 export value of RM3.7 billion.

Yet, the figure is far short of the RM4.7 billion sales in 2019.

Awang Tengah said the state’s target is RM8 billion by 2030, the year the state is supposed to achieve developed status.

Plywood accounts for 55% of total exports. Awang Tengah said plywood revenue last year was RM2.15 billion.

Japan continues to be the state’s major export market, importing RM2.04 billion of timber and timber products last year. – February 9, 2022.