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Army told to tackle illegal logging



February 16, 1998


                                       



                                FORESTRY

              Army told to
              tackle illegal
              logging

              by Wassana Nanuam and Chewin Sattha

              Army chief Gen Chettha Thanajaro has issued an urgent order
              to set up a special task force to protect Thai forests along the
              Salween river after the discovery of large-scale deforestation
              blamed on influential loggers who have the support of local
              authorities.

              The move followed a trip by Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai to
              inspect forests along the river in Mae Hong Son on Saturday.
              Gen Chettha received a direct order then from the premier that
              the military should take a major role in protecting forests along
              the border.

              According to an army source, the new "Salween" task force will
              be under the command of a colonel and will mainly comprise
              soldiers who will be fully armed and will have the use of
              helicopters in conducting their mission. Customs and Forestry
              officials as well as border patrol police in the province will come
              under the special task force.

              The prime minister became upset upon seeing heavy
              deforestation which was supported by local authorities and he
              also blamed the Mae Hong Son governor for never having made
              field trips to check the problem, the source said.

              Several felled logs were found in every square kilometre of the
              450,950-rai Salween National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary and
              thousands more were tied together as rafts floating in the
              Salween river. The widespread illegal logging has reportedly
              ruined about 30% of the national park.

              Gen Chettha was also very frustrated with the deforestation
              because empty fields affected military missions in the border
              area, the source said.

              Apart from setting the special task force, the army was also told
              to remove 13,000 Karen refugees who work for illegal loggers in
              the national park and to seize felled logs there.

              Logs are usually moved into the Salween river and it is then
              claimed that they have come from Burmese forests under the
              protection of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA)
              and are being "imported" back to Thailand as Burmese goods.

              In fact, the excuse is totally groundless because concession areas
              of Burmese forests were as far as 50 kilometres from the
              bordering river and had only about 7,000 cubic metres of logs
              left, the source said.

              To cope with illegal logging seriously, the army is also seeking
              legal amendments to empower soldiers to arrest illegal loggers
              and to have their authority extended to cover the protection of
              forests within a range of three kilometres from the borderline
              nationwide.

              The army was working with the Interior Ministry and the
              Forestry Department to push for the amendments, the source
              said.




                                       




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Last Modified: Mon, Feb 16, 1998