Another shocking log jam has afflicted the interior of Sarawak, this time in Sungai Krangan, Balai Ringin.

On this occasion, at least, there have been no attempts to pretend that logging and plantation activities are somehow not to blame.

After the catastrophe developed yesterday the Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) moved to make a swift statement confirming “The incident, which was caused by uncontrolled bulldozing and land clearing by a plantation company, has led to significant environmental and socio-economic impacts.”

Indeed, the NREB reported to the media that the company responsible has already been identified, reprimanded, fined and tasked with the clean up  – all within just 24 hours!

In case that might appear to be a rather suspiciously hasty opening and closing of the case the NREB went on to assure that it is:

“conducting a thorough investigation to determine if there are any additional violations within the buffer zones. If additional violations are found, we will initiate an investigation and legal action will be taken against the responsible parties, including bring them to court for prosecution,”

Unfortunately, whilst is may be progress that environmental criminals are being at last identified by the state government and ostensibly held to account, such behind closed doors handling of the affair is simply not good enough.

The afflicted community, and indeed the whole of Sarawak, are entitled to know the identity of the company concerned, the nature of the licence they received, how it has been judged they violated the terms of that licence, what the fine they have received was and under what protocols that fine was determined.

There is also the matter of compensation for affected victims of this disaster, which they can hardly  pursue if the episode is treated like some sort of secret.

In a properly run, democratic state (which Sarawak claims to be) all logging and plantation licences should be openly published and available from the Land & Survey Department, together with all the terms and conditions, royalties paid and directors and shareholders responsible.

This would be following, of course, a full and transparent licensing process to include environmental assessments, community consultation and legal scrutiny as to competing land rights – all of which would also be readily available to the public.

However, in Sarawak such matters are treated as deadly secret.  A decade ago a leaked copy of the relevant land data did happen to fall into the hands of this site.  That data immediately explained the reason for the secrecy.

Time and again concessions had been handed out for peanuts to political cronies and relatives who went on to make billions of ringgit of personal profit out of the destruction of Sarawak’s public lands.

So, who are the concession holders involved in this particular incident who are now admitted to have violated whatever terms they were required to abide by?  Why the silence on that matter?

The local sports car enthusiast YB, Snowdan Lawan, has chipped in to protest at the failings of this  mystery entity, so presumably he knows what has been going on.  Why has he not provided a full statement to his constituents?

All this secrecy has inevitably produced a great deal of highly warranted criticism and informed speculation as to what may well have happened in an area, where logging and plantation has been actively underway without anyone beyond ‘those in the know’ having any clue whether the destruction was sanctioned or not.

The venerated Iban rights activist, Nicholas Mujah from the local NGO SADIA, gave his own take on the situation to Radio Free Sarawak on Tuesday, pointing out that many plantation licenses are handed out simply as an excuse for companies to come in and take the timber from an area:

Plantation companies often take the opportunity to sell the logs from the designated plantation area. Some companies apply for permits to establish oil palm plantations just to gain access to areas for logging. After the trees are cut down, the areas meant for palm oil cultivation are sometimes left abandoned. [RFS summary]

Nicholas Mujah goes on to suggest, according to the interview, that the above situation is common due to widespread corruption among representatives in Sarawak. The forest department and the oil palm plantation companies bribe village heads and their bosses to keep them from reporting these environmental crimes.

The current fines range from RM30,000 to RM150,000, depending on the size of the contaminated area, he said. However, such fines are negligible compared to the environmental damage caused and the substantial profits from selling logs in the designated plantation areas, which can reach tens of millions of ringgit.

Snowdan Lawan and officials at the NREB need to come forward to assure Sarawakians that this element of corrupt practice has not been active in this case. They have admitted that this clearance has been unauthorised and destructive, therefore the full details of who was given permission to do what under which legal grounds needs to be published.

The police – and indeed SPRM – should be brought on to the investigation immediately also, given the utter failure of the forest department and NREB to control the situation so far.

Were the state parliament ever allowed to sit (which of course it barely ever does) Mr Snowdan Lawan ought to be required to explain what has been going on in his area and why he didn’t notice the logging up till now.

Likewise, he should be able to quiz some of the logging tycoons who simultaneously pose as Environment Ministers in Sarawak why proper controls have not been actively in place?

It seems that the leadership in Sarawak has at least grasped that in order to queue up for the economic benefits that can accrue from environmental good practice – i.e. through certification schemes, carbon credit projects and offsetting – green credentials are required.

However, it is not enough to simply boast about being green and claim progress on reforestation when the facts do not bear out those claims.

Lack of transparency and corruption behind closed doors spell inevitable failure for any attempt to implement genuine green policies or achieve credibility in the green markets of the future.

Snowdan Lawan and his GPS colleagues must start by naming and shaming those behind the Balai Ringin disaster and opening a full open inquiry into how it was allowed to happen.