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Arsonists behind raging forest fires in Sabah

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The Sabah Forestry Department alleged that certain NGOs encouraged individuals to set the forest on fire after their applications for land were not approved.

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Sam Mannan

KOTA KINABALU:
The Sabah Forestry Department (SFD) has confirmed that arsonists were behind the raging fires in the Trusmadi Forest Reserve and in Binsuluk Forest Reserve that has blanketed the west coast with a thick haze. SFD Director Sam Mannan added that certain government agencies had been issuing permits to individuals to clear forest land by burning. “The location and status of the land involved was not determined in the permits.”

The SFD Director also alleged that certain NGOs also encouraged individuals to set the forest on fire after their applications for land were not approved. “Who has done these uncivilised actions? Now, society as a whole has been affected because of the actions of a few greedy individuals.”

Manan, resuming his take on government agencies, said that it was puzzling that certain individuals could be given approval when open burning was not allowed.

The SFD Director, in lamenting the attitude of the government agencies involved, said the public should know about these errant parties. “There’s a ban on open burning in the country and they have the audacity to issue permits.”

“When we asked whose land it was, they did not know.”

The fires in Trusmadi, said Mannan, were put out after they initially destroyed some 660 hectares. “There have been fresh fires in the same area after we built huge firebreaks. Then the fires started on the other side of the breaks. The fires can’t start in an area where there are no fires.”

The latest update from the SFD shows that almost 3,000 hectares of forest reserve and almost 10,000 hectares of alienated lands have been destroyed in eight districts including Keningau, Beaufort and Sook being the most affected. “We can put out the fire in Trusmadi in another week provided no one starts new fires,” said Mannan. “It would take longer in Binsuluk where 300 hectares have been burnt.

“We have almost given up on this area because there’s a lack of water resources here; the peat swamp forest floor is highly fire prone and people continue to burn outside the reserve area. Then the fire spreads into the forest reserve.”

The Sabah Government was also reportedly considering cloud-seeding operations according to media reports quoting a statement by Federal Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Wilfred Madius Tangau.

Already, 83 schools in Sabah have been closed because of the haze situation, said Acting Sabah Education Director Maimunah Suhaibul. The schools are mostly in Papar, Beaufort and Kuala Penyu, three districts along the west coast. The Air Pollutant Index (API) in Papar on Monday was 231 compared with 60 in Kota Kinabalu. Schools have to be closed once the API reaches 200.

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