KUALA LUMPUR: The government is looking to increase jail time and impose stiffer fines against those found trespassing in permanent forest reserves.
Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr A. Xavier Jayakumar said this would be facilitated by the amendments to the National Forestry Act 1984, which is expected be tabled in Parliament in March next year.
"We are looking at the (National) Forestry Act and make it more stringent.
“We are going to amend the law and make it more severe for those caught loitering in the (permanent) forest (reserves) without permission of the agencies involved.
"If you are found loitering without proper reason, whether in permanent forest reserves, you can be charged," said Dr Xavier after the opening of the Hutan Kita exhibition here by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He said that the draft of the amendments has been submitted to the Attorney General's Chambers with consultation at the state level, and the federal government is looking at increasing the penalty as well as the prison term.
Anyone found guilty of trespassing into closed forests can be fined up to RM10,000 and/or be jailed for not more than three years.
Dr Jayakumar added that his ministry has also prepared a new standard operating procedure (SOP) for degazetting forest land at the state level.
However, he admitted that the new SOP is not binding as forest land falls under the purview of state governments.
"This SOP is not binding because (forest) land is the prerogative of the state. This SOP is published by us; if any land is degazetted or used for deforestation or plantation, it should follow this SOP.
"This SOP will be published, and (we are) finetuning it right now. We are not waiting for replies from the state (governments).
"If the (state governments) don't follow this SOP, we have no power to take action against the state but the people will be informed of the SOP and the people can take necessary action against the state," he said.
Dr Jayakumar added that his ministry is working closely with the Housing and Local Government Ministry to ensure that forest fires will not reach the scale of the devastating forest fires in the Amazon.
He pointed out that negotiating Malaysian rainforest terrain was not only difficult but also required Bombardier aircraft to extinguish such fires.
"We have put in place certain regulations and we need to spend money to put out forest fires as soon as possible.
"Knowing the terrain and how difficult it is to manoeuvre in a rainforest, we also work with KPKT because they have the necessary equipment such as Bombardier planes to drop water at forest fires.
"We know that drought is becoming more serious and when a forest fire starts, we will act accordingly," he said.