Anti-corruption watchdog Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) has turned its sights on Kelantan’s massive logging activities.

C4 founder-director Cynthia Gabriel said it comes as a shock to discover that Kelantan recently approved 4,500 hectares to a private company for logging, while 9,000 acres are to be used for oil palm planting.

Gabriel noted that the company has obtained many other approvals for logging from the PAS-led state government without going through an open tender system.

“We view this matter with great interest, as such practices are the breeding ground for corruption and cronyism,” she said in a statement.

“We want the Kelantan government to reveal if the award of these multiple approvals have breached the state's annual logging cap.”

The statement from Gabriel ( photo ) comes after PAS Salak assemblyperson Husam Musa's revelation and his lament that the state government had not responded to any of his queries

In his statement, Husam claimed that the private company had obtained several approvals from the state government, raising the question as to whether only “selected cronies” are benefitting from the state’s generosity.

Gabriel’s statement comes ahead of the annual floods in the East Coast, which usually starts in November.

The last floods - dubbed the worst in Malaysian history since 1971 - hit the peninsula from Dec 22, 2014 to Jan 3 this year.

More than 200,000 people were displaced while 21 lost their lives.

At the height of the crisis, Kelantan Menteri Besar Ahmad Yakob blamed “illegal land clearing and logging” as among the causes for the devastating floods in the state.

State says annual logging is capped

Ahmad claimed that the state government had always capped logging at 5,960ha a year, the standard set by the National Land Council.

Gabriel said without an open tender system and proper policies outlining the state’s approval procedures for such activities, more questions have arisen over Kelantan’s decision to appoint the company.

“Who is benefitting from these concessions or repeated approvals? What are the merits of the company awarded the logging and why has it been given several approvals to clear the forests?” she asked.

C4 then urged the Kelantan government to reconsider the approval given to the company and to consider the effect such clearing of trees would have on the environment, in light of last year’s massive flood.

The NGO wants Kelantan to draft a policy on land clearing, and for the procedures to be implemented in a transparent and accountable manner.

“Kelantan can emulate its neighbour, Pahang, where its state assembly recently called for more stringent requirements to be imposed on loggers in the state to ensure that logging activities are carried out more responsibly,” Gabriel said.

“Indeed, it is a sad day for Kelantanese if the state government has learnt nothing from the great floods of 2014,” she added.