KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Forestry Department (SFD) plans to lodge a police report against Sarawak Report for allegedly publishing false claims in two recent articles.
The department said the articles, titled "Illegal Logging in Sabah! (By the State Government)" on Dec 1 and "Sabah Forestry Admits Log Extraction and Export – Says Timber is Disease-Ridden" on Dec 3 contained baseless claims and misrepresentations about the department’s activities.
"We strongly deny the allegations published by the Sarawak Report, which falsely attributed a press release to the SFD. This is an irresponsible act done with malicious intent," said the department's chief conservator of forests, Datuk Fred Kugan, in a statement on Friday (Dec 6).
Kugan refuted claims from the first article that timber is being extracted and exported without proper dues being paid.
"SFD has been collecting royalties from the extraction of Acacia mangium trees in accordance with the Forest Rules 1969," he clarified.
On the Ceratocystis wilt disease outbreak mentioned in the second article, Kugan said that SFD, in collaboration with Yayasan Sabah, is actively working to contain and eliminate the threat.
"This issue was transparently raised and discussed during the state legislative assembly sitting in November," he added.
The SFD reaffirmed its commitment to sustainable forest management and urged the public to disregard unfounded claims intended to undermine its credibility.
