Extracted from Malaysiakini

Malaysian logging giant ‘harass’ activists

Jun 3, 06 11:29am

Malaysian-owned logging giant Rimbunan Hijau (RH) has been accused of “harassing” activists from the international environmental watchdog Greenpeace.

The incident allegedly occurred on May 31 at RH’s Papua New Guinea (PNG) headquarters in Port Moresby.

Led by local activist Sam Moko (right), six activists, accompanied by several journalists, attempted to present Greenpeace’s “Golden Chainsaw Award” to the company.

RH had ordered their security personnel to detain the six activists for up to 45 minutes, claimed Greenpeace in a statement.

Fearing for their safety, the activists locked themselves into vehicles while one cameraman was allegedly assaulted by security personnel who attempted to seize his camera.

The melee ended when police arrived to escort Greenpeace members from the scene to a local police station where senior company officials were also questioned but no charges was brought against them.

“All we wanted to do was peacefully deliver the Golden Chainsaw award and leave. This type of reaction is uncalled for and reflects the way this company considers itself above the law,” said Greenpeace campaign director Danny Kennedy.

Forest destruction

The Greenpeace Golden Chainsaw award is reserved for those termed as “the worst forest destroyers in the world”.

Previous recipients include governor of Brazil's Mato Grosso province in 2005 for allegedly destroying parts of the Amazon forest to plant soya and Kayu Lapis Indonesia in 2006 for alleged illegal and destructive logging practices in Indonesia’s Papua province.

“This award is a symbol of years of bad practice by RH here in PNG. They are responsible for destroying much of PNG’s natural heritage and many serious questions have been raised in relation to their dealings with local landowners,” said Kennedy.

Previously in 2004, Australian current affairs programme ‘Dateline’ carried an interview with a PNG police officer who alleged that members of the force sometimes take orders directly from RH to ‘manhandle’ non-cooperative workers and landowners.

Rimbunan Hijau was founded by Sarawakian timber tycoon and media mogul Tiong Hiew King, an ex-senator for the Sarawak United Peoples’ Party.

His company runs the largest logging operations in PNG. He also owns an English daily there called The National.

Greenpeace ‘neo-colonist’

Reacting to the incident, The National on its website today published a strongly worded editorial criticising Greenpeace while defending RH’s logging policy and contribution to the country’s economy.

“Greenpeace today has become a mouthpiece for the vapid, the ignorant and the hysterical. It displays concern neither for the facts nor for the truth, and today it has become a discredited voice,” said the daily.

The daily claimed that Greenpeace was “a 100 years too late” in saving the forests of Australia and were trying to coerce other nations from making the same mistake.

“Armed with a narrow moral certainty that they are right, they ignore the fact that a growing number of New Guineans find their actions both patronising and neo-colonial.

“The RH incident underlines the truth of that campaign. No attempt was made to make an appointment to discuss any industry issues with RH management, and it is perfectly clear that the overseas ‘journalists’ had no intentions of filing balanced stories for their overseas employers,” it said.