About 1,500 permanent and temporary/contract employees of the Sarawak Forest Department are seeking a court declaration that it is mandatory for the state government to issue them option letters to work in the newly-established Sarawak Forestry Corporation.

They claim that they are entitled to receive such option letters under the Prime Minister's Department Circular 2000 and Section 16 of the Sarawak Forestry Corporation Ordinance 1995.

The application for leave to apply for an order of certiorari was filed at the Kuching High Court registry last Friday, to quash a government decision not to issue option letters to all employees with the corporation.

Counsel Abdul Rahman Mohd Hazmi acted for for Sarawak Forest Employees Union president Abdul Wahab Abdullah, representing about 1,500 members.

The applicant is employed in the Forest Department as assistant forest conservator. The government of Sarawak is named as first respondent and the Sarawak Forestry Corporation and the Sarawak Forestry Corporation Sdn Bhd as second and third respondents respectively.

Union members have picketed in various towns over the past year to demand attention to their situation.

'Uncertain future'

Malaysiakini

was told that the department had more than 2,000 permanent and temporary/contract employees previously, including professionals.

Of these, about 500 to 600 have either been seconded to the corporation or absorbed into the new company to which the Forest Department has privatised many of its functions, including the management, exploitation and conservation of forests and forest resources.

Union assistant secretary Zaidi Buang said "the rest simply do not know what their future will be".

"At the moment, they are largely left idle. The permanent staff still get their pay, but most of the temporary or contract employees have had their services terminated prematurely," he said.

"We understand that the state government in its correspondence with the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) and the International Federation of Building and Wood Workers (IFBWW) has denied having privatised or corporatised the Forest Department."

He disputed this claim, saying the union has "all the documents" and that union members are confused by the government's stance on the matter.

They also cannot understand why the government did not follow the Prime Minister's Department Circular 2000 and Section 16 of the Sarawak Forestry Corporation Ordinance 1995 in carrying out the exercise.

"Going to court is not the last recourse. We have been patient long enough. If necessary, we will contact our international affiliations to apply some pressure so that the government will sit down and talk with the union. The MTUC has been very helpful to us," he said.

A check with public records shows that the Sarawak Forestry Corporation was set up under the Ordinance on Jan 1, 1998, by Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, who is also the minister in charge of natural resources.

Sarawak Forestry Corporation Sdn Bhd was created on Nov 21, 1997. It is a fully owned company of the state government.

Its directors are Cheong Ek Choon (Forest Department director who is also director/manager of the company), state Attorney-General JC Fong, state secretary Abdul Aziz Hussein and former state financial secretary Chin Jui Bui. The company secretary is listed as Sung Tee Seio.