The Sarawak government, through the Forest Department, has come to the defence of Samling Global following the Norwegian Government Pension Fund's decision to withdraw a US$16 million (RM50 million) investment from the timber conglomerate based on ethical grounds.

azlan State Forest Department director Len Talif Salleh said today the Norwegian authorities could have communicated with the Foreign Ministry or the Malaysian embassy in Norway to obtain information for an objective assessment of Sarawak's timber industry.  

"The investment sum is insignificant compared to Samling's total equity but by claiming that the company is involved in illegal logging and has caused severe environmental damage to justify their withdrawal of the investment is unethical because our credibility is being questioned," Len, who is also State Planning and Resource Management deputy permanent secretary, told reporters at his Aidilfitri open house in Demak Baru in Kuching.   

Last month, the Norwegian Government Pension fund excluded Samling, which has an annual turnover of US$480 million (about RM1.48 billion), from its portfolio based on an assessment conducted by the Council of Ethics, that alleged the company contributed to illegal logging and severe environmental damage.

Based on his records, Len said, the Norwegian authorities also had never written to the department or ministry to get information or seek assistance but instead used "dubious" means to interview certain people, including those connected to the Bruno Manser Fund, which had vested interests.  

"The fact is they have admittedly come over to this place (Sarawak) from April to September last year through the back door but have made a decision to invest in Samling before March 2008 ... so why come up with this sort of statement only later and, to me, there may be some sinister motive on their side to discredit us," he said.

Serious repercussions

On the definition of illegal logging, he said that while it was recognised that there was no international acceptance of illegal logging, it was accepted that these could be activities that complied with rules and regulations of a particular country.  

In the case of Samling, the company had complied with the department's as well as the ministry's requirements that were deemed to be legal, he said.  

Sarawak Second Minister of Planning and Resource Management Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said recently that Samling had demonstrated its commitment to sustainable forest practices in more than four decades of operation in Sarawak.

The allegation against Samling would have serious repercussions on the state's well-being and timber industry at large, besides undermining the forest department's role in promoting responsible tropical forestry and achieving best practices in sustainable forest management, he had said.  

- Bernama