Malaysian logging giant Rimbunan Hijau today slammed top environment NGO in Papua New Guinea of “irresponsible fantasy” in claiming that the country’s highest court had overturned its rights to log the vast Kamula Doso forests.

According to environment group PNG Eco-Forestry Forum which has been fighting the case for two years, the PNG Supreme Court had last week quashed the granting of logging rights to Rimbunan for the huge forest area in the country's Western Province.

It said that the Malaysian company had conceded that its logging rights were awarded illegally just before the three-member Supreme Court bench was to begin hearing the case.

In a statement faxed to Malaysiakini , Rimbunan said that its subsidiary Wawoi Guavi Timber Company (WGTC) had agreed for the case to be sent back to the lower National Court.

kamula doso papua new guinea 041108 According to James Lau, the managing director of Rimbunan’s logging operations in PNG, this decision by WGTC was to enable all parties, and not only appellant Eco-Forestry Forum, the opportunity to be heard.

He said this included all companies involved in the logging industry as well as traditional landowners.

“Direction to that effect were made by the Supreme Court of PNG on Oct 28, 2008. This is very different from the version which the PNG Eco-Forestry Forum has been urging the media to report, with baseless allegations of illegality and collusion by Rimbunan Hijau with representatives of the PNG government,” lamented Lau.

“All of those reports are irresponsible fantasy.”

Lau stressed that WGTC had not begun its logging of the Kamula Doso forest as the “allocation process for timber logging rights for that area has not been completed under PNG’s Forestry Act”.

forest in papua new guinea 041108 02 “For conservation groups such as the PNG Eco-Forestry Forum to assert that illegal logging has been occurring at Kamula Doso is not only misleading, it is absolutely untrue,” said Lau.

“WGTC and Rimbunan Hijau are fully committed to the sustainable development of PNG’s forestry resources according to the law.”

Eco-Forestry Forum chairperson Kenn Mondiai had earlier described the Supreme Court decision as "a major victory for good governance".

"This decision demonstrates to the whole world what has been going on for far too long, and legally reaffirms the Forum's claim of widespread illegal logging in PNG facilitated by the government and the logging industry."

PNG’s remaining untouched forests

Rimbunan Hijau was founded in 1975 by Sarawak timber tycoon cum media mogul Tiong Hiew King, an ex-senator for the Sarawak United Peoples' Party.

He controls the Chinese Malaysian newspapers Sin Chew Daily and Guangming Daily , as well as The National in Papua New Guinea and Ming Pao in Hong Kong.

tiong jiew king tiong hew king Tiong ( right ), who has an estimated net worth of about US$1.1 billion, is ranked 840th richest person in the world by Forbes magazine.

In PNG, Rimbunan operates half of the biggest logging projects and directly accounts for one-third of the country's raw log exports.

The 800,000-hectare Kamula Doso concession is considered the jewel in the crown of PNG's remaining untouched tropical forests with logging companies vying to get the rights to log the area.

International environment group Greenpeace said 90 percent of all logging in PNG was illegal, mainly due to the lack of consent by traditional landowners and the failure of the PNG government to enforce its own forestry laws.

Rimbunan has been accused by locals and environmentalists of using violence, intimidation and bribery in pursuing its logging activities.