little effort made to re-forest??? [Forest plantation operators told to submit funding request]

Your business report on the Gov't's efforts to aid forest plantations, Forest plantation operators told to submit funding request] clearly showed that such measures have been put in the 'back-burner' and are considered low priority in the Gov't's overall efforts to transform the economy. From what I can glean from the report, it would seem that less than 15% of the available acreage of de-forested areas have been replanted, and officials have admitted that efforts have at best been desultory. More than this, it has also been reported that some of the earliest forest plantations in Bintulu "were supposed to supply raw materials to a proposed pulp and paper mill project but the project has yet to take off although it was planned more than 15 years ago".

If the Govts efforts to develop forest plantations are to "relieve the pressure of harvesting timber from natural forests", I think the efforts have failed miserably as the reality of the situation is that Virgin forests and reserves have been continually allotted by State Governments to big timber concerns for purely profit motives. Furthermore, overt and covert encroachment into forest areas protected by law are still frequently reported, as surveillance and monitoring by sometimes indifferent authorities have been found seriously wanting.

If we are serious in our efforts to support sustainability issues in our transformation programmes, and also to contribute towards the greening of the World, we have a lot to do in this area, and soon......

Much work remains to be done...