Newly-minted Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg has allowed the issuance of short-term timber licences in the state through a tender process.

Abang Johari, who came to power after Adenan Satem's death last month, said this was to ensure transparent issuance of the licences.

“Short-term timber licences are only issued for state land forest which have been approved for development and Native Customary Land (NCL) Development Area and Native Communal Reserve that shall undergo development.

"These licences shall be issued by open tender,” he said in a statement today.

This will also be for existing licences which are due to expire, he said.

The Forest Department would prepare the tender documents and estimate timber stands value to determine the reserve price for the tender.

The tender will be advertised in local newspapers and the Forest Department website 30 days before the close of tender, he reportedly said.

The order is effective immediately and not subject to any Native Customary Rights (NCR) claims, the statement added.

The department will review the mechanism of award of timber licences for areas subject to NCR claims, he said.

Adenan had in 2014 directed a halt on all logging licences to curb corruption and illegal logging.

Editor's note: This story previously stated the freeze on timber licences was reversed. The short-term timber licences referred to by Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg is different from the regular timber licences which the previous Sarawak chief minister Adenan Satem had imposed a moratorium on. The error is regretted.