SHAH ALAM: Authorities are investigating a wood processing company for allegedly falsifying documents to import mangrove wood from a neighbouring country.
Peninsular Malaysia Forestry Department head of corporate communications Mohd Yussainy Md Yusop said the company, located in Telok Panglima Garang in Banting, had claimed that it obtained an entry permit to import the commodity from Indonesia.
“The department’s director-general Datuk Nor Akhirrudin Mahmud had, during a working visit yesterday, inspected a mangrove landing jetty and we found more than 20,000 mangrove trees,” he told reporters here today.
Present during the inspection was Selangor state forestry department director Dr Mohd Puat Dahalan.
“We will take action by reviewing the company’s entry permit and verify the procedures involved in obtaining the mangrove trees,” he said.
Yusainy said the company had also claimed to own three import permits for 60,000 mangroves in 2017.
Authorities, he said, discovered that most of the imported trees were of the ‘kayu jaras’ variety from Indonesia. The rest, he added, were mangroves commonly found in Malaysia.
Yusainy said a team would conduct a working visit to Indonesia to study and identify the types of mangroves imported from Indonesia, as well as how they were exported to Malaysia.
He said mangroves from Indonesia were typically smaller than the ones found locally.
“Mangroves originating from Bagan Si Api-Api in Indonesia, for instance, are blackish in colour, while the ones from Tanjung Balai, Indonesia are reddish.
“Mangroves from Indonesia also have large knots on the stems and a rough texture. The local ‘kurap’ species is scaly in texture while the ‘minyak’ species is brighter in colour and smoother.”
Yusainy added the department will continue monitoring the company’s activities as investigations continued.
“If it is found guilty of falsifying documents, legal action would be taken.”
Translated from Berita Harian