Villagers of Long Pilah settlement in interior northern Sarawak seized huge felled trees that they claimed were illegally harvested timber.
MIRI: Native villagers of Long Pilah settlement in the middle Baram region of interior northern Sarawak have uncovered a huge amount of massive logs harvested from forests over which they have Native Customary Land Rights.
The villagers claimed that they uncovered hundreds of these felled trees from illegal logging at a log pond near their settlement on Sunday.
They have set up a blockade to chase out timber workers, and a police report was lodged at the Long Lama police station, which is the nearest town to Long Pilah.
The villagers led by Ajang Jok, who is chairman of the Long Pilah Peoples Action Committee, have also lodged a complaint to the Sarawak Forestry.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) ground coordinator for Sarawak, Jok Jau Evong, told The Star on Friday that the villagers had informed SAM about the case.
The villagers said the illegal logging activities in Long Pilah started in March this year.
SAM hopes the police and the Sarawak Forestry will investigate the villagers' complaints immediately.
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