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Army told to tackle illegal logging
- Subject: Army told to tackle illegal logging
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 16 Feb 1998 03:28:00
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