Nature Alert: Govt dept director, district chief nabbed by MACC

Tuesday, 20 October 2009

Govt dept director, district chief nabbed by MACC

Published: Tuesday October 20, 2009 The Star

By LOURDES CHARLES

KUALA LUMPUR: A director of a government department and his district chief have been arrested by the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission for allegedly accepting more than RM100,000 involving the awarding of a timber concession contract.

Two forest rangers from the forestry department have also been arrested.

It is learnt a special team from the Putra Jaya MACC headquarters investigating the case were also said to have seized more than RM300,000 from the house of the director who is said to be a millionaire.

Sources said the officers also found some of the cash in the director’s car and were currently checking his bank accounts.

It is learnt that the MACC officers had on Monday arrested the district chief in Kulim, Kedah before arresting the two forest rangers in Sungai Petani following the questioning of the district chief.

They said the three led the MACC officers to the arrest of the director who was picked up from his office in Alor Star Tuesday morning.

MACC director of investigations Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdull confirmed the arrest of the four and the seizure of about RM300,000 but declined to elaborate as investigations were still underway.

It is learnt that the MACC was also investigating several others as they believe all of them could have been involved in previous illegal logging activities in the state that was costing the government millions of ringgit.

All four have been ordered to be remanded to facilitate the MACC in their investigations.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/10/20/nation/20091020180039&sec=nation

Hall of Shame for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Palm Oil Industry.

Nothing can prepare one for the sight of the systematic extermination of orangutans by the government of Indonesia.

Look at the photos and news articles on these pages in the context of a statement the President made to the media on 10th December 2007.

“In the last 35 years about 50,000 orangutans are estimated to have been lost as their habitats shrank. If this continues, this majestic creature will likely face extinction by 2050,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the launch of an orangutan conservation plan at the climate talks in Bali.

“The fate of the orangutan is a subject that goes to the heart of sustainable forests … To save the orangutan we have to save the forest.”

Statements like these are most welcome, but unless backed up by action, such words fall on deaf ears within the Ministry of Forestry....who are busy granting licences to cut down the very forests the President says they should protect!

When you think you are to busy to help, please could you reflect for a moment on .........

The following extract refers to environmental problems in general. I just hope you find it as thought provoking and relevant to orangutans as I have.

"This is such a shocking and unpalatable fact that most people deny it, or they just don't want to think about it. They believe as individuals, they can do little about it, so push it to the back of their minds. But I can't do that.

When something has to be done, we need to do it. It doesn't matter how big the challenge is or how hard the solution; if I know something is wrong, and I am in a position to help, I will do my best to make it right." Duncan Bannatyne, successful British businessman.