SIBU: Unlicensed swiftlet house owners statewide are appealing to the government for help as the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) has banned them from harvesting and selling their bird's nests.
The ban was enforced after four licensed bird's nest traders were arrested in a joint operation under Operasi Bersepadu Khazanah involving the Sibu SFC team and Zone 5 marine police on May 3 for buying their supply from illegal sources.
A total of 882.657kg of bird's nests, worth about RM2.5mil, were seized in the operation.
Following the raid, all licensed traders involved in the buying and selling of bird's nests in the state were also told to suspend operations.
Unlicensed swiftlet house owners were also affected as they could not harvest and sell their bird's nest.
On Monday (May 15), more than 50 unlicensed swiftlet house owners staged a peaceful demonstration and appealed to the government for help.
They were from Sibu, Pulau Bruit, Tatau, Bintangor, Sarikei, Mukah, Kanowit, Durin, Selangau and Song.
Group spokesman Victor Ting said their livelihoods have been affected by the ban.
"With Gawai round the corner, the affected Dayaks will have a bleak celebration as their source of income has been affected," he said.
Ting said the state's law under the Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998 is too rigid where a licence is needed from the wildlife controller for a swiftlet house.
"In Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan, swiftlets are no longer listed under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716).
"Thus, a licence is not required from the Wildlife and National Parks Department. But the opposite is happening in Sarawak," he said.
He also said the state law on the matter needs to be revised in line with Act 716 as there are a big number of swiftlet houses in rural areas.
"There are about 20,000 swiftlet houses in the state but less than 500 of them have been granted licences."
