KOTA KINABALU, March 24 ― A total of 400,000 hectares of forest plantations will be developed in certain forest reserve areas of Sabah for timber output by 2036, the State Legislative Assembly was told at its sitting, here, today.

Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor said the development of forest plantations involved the Class II Forest Reserves (Commercial) under the long-term Sustainable Forest Management Licence Agreement (SFMLA).

He said the forest plantations were identified based on the Forest Management Plan for timber production which was in line with the state government’s aspiration for forest resource sustainability as spelt out in Thrust 1 of the Sabah Forestry Policy 2018, to maximise timber production from the forest reserves, sustainably.

“The development of forest plantations is for the purpose of raising the state’s timber production capacity up to six million cubic metres per year to support its timber supply industry towards increasing the state’s revenue collection.

“Besides increasing the timber stock for the future, this effort can also provide more job opportunities, thus improving the socio-economy of the community,” he said in winding up the debate on the speech by the Yang Dipertua Negeri, Tun Juhar Mahiruddin at the opening of the assembly sitting.

Meanwhile, Hajiji said the state government and relevant agencies had set up a consortium to drive new investments in Sipitang so as to activate and spur the timber industry in the areas involved.

“Hence, this could help tackle the welfare issue of the Sabah Forest Industries (SFI) workers in these areas. The new private investments will be monitored by the state government and most importantly, industrial and forest land ownership will remain as the state’s right,” he added.

Meanwhile, he said the state government will ensure that the Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security Complex (ICQS) be set up fast in the areas involved including in Nabawan with the eventual moving of the Indonesian capital to Kalimantan.

“The state government through its Economic Planning Unit and implementation agencies are actively ensuring that this project can be implemented during the 12th Malaysia Plan period through the cooperation and allocation from the federal government agency,” he added.

On the payment of premium on the division of land for Felda settlers amounting to RM835,000 involving 835 plots in the state, Hajiji said the state government’s stand was that it should be settled by Felda and not the settlers themselves.

“The state government will be looking into this matter with Felda after this,” he said. ― Bernama