The Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) is working closely with the fire forensics experts from the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department to determine the cause of fire that destroyed around 77 hectares of Class 1 Trusan Kinabatangan Forest Reserve and 120 hectares of Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary’s Lot 2 that occurred last week.

SWD director William Baya said although there was a possibility that the fire could have started by poaching activities, he did not have the expertise to confirm it.

“I would leave it to the experts, the Fire and Rescue Department,  to analyse the cause of the fire,” he said in a press statement yesterday.

He was able to confirm however that the fire started from the forest reserve before spreading rapidly to the sanctuary.

“Contrary to what was reported earlier  by one of the local newspapers, both Sabah Wildlife Department and Fire Department personnel were also at the scene, bravely putting out and  controlling the fire so that it would not spread further. Thanks to their valiant  efforts,  together with personnel from the Sabah Forestry Department and of course some divine intervention that brought heavy rain in the evening, the fire  that could have spread out of control causing further destruction, was finally put out,” said William.

He also commented on the issue brought up by Kinabatangan Corridor of life Tourism Operators Association (KiTA)  president Alexander Yee in another report where he claimed that SWD had asked KiTA to suspend its patrolling on technical grounds.

“I am actually very sad and dumbfounded by Alex’s comments. In fact there is no regulatory issue at all  regarding the patrolling  activities because they are honorary wildlife wardens who are authorized under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 to do enforcement. Why should the department ask the river patrol to be suspended if KiTA is willingly assisting the department?  We never asked KiTA to suspend its patrolling activities, contrary to what Yee had said. I hope KiTA can continue it,” said William.

“I do believe that it might be more of an issue of the cost of running these wildlife patrols which was suppose to come from a proposed conservation levy imposed to all tour operators in Kinabatangan that has not been implemented yet due to some technical glitches which SWD and KiTA are ironing out  right now,” added William.

He said the department agreed with Yee and urged all stakeholders along the Kinabatangan River to work together with the authorities to protect the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary.

“Such cooperation could have prevented the fire that destroyed part of the sanctuary as well as forest reserve as well,”  concluded Baya.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by The Borneo Post

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