KUALA LUMPUR: The Pahang Forestry Department (JPNP) has confirmed that the permission to transport logs from an alienated land linked to former director-general of Lands and Mines Office Datuk Seri Azemi Kasim had been revoked.
The department's director Mohd Hizamri Mohd Yasin said a viral video that depicted Azemi as a license holder was an old one taken last September which had been re-shared.
He added that JPNP has not received information on such activities taking place in the area of late.
"It is an old video when the activities had taken place on the alienated land and the forestry department had only given the consent for him to remove logs.
"However, we have revoked the permit approval to remove logs and to use the forest reserve as a route," he told Berita Harian.
A one minute and 36 seconds video showing logging activities occurring and a woman questioning an individual named Datuk Seri Azemi Kasim as the license holder.
Mohd Hizamri added that logging issues at the Lentang forest reserve area which had gone viral involved a licensed forest clearing area with an alienated land status located in the Bentong district spanning about 3.59ha.
He said the licensed area had been viralled before by a non-governmental organisation on Oct 30, 2020, alleging that the pollution of Sungai Kenoi near a resort was due to the construction of a road to transport logs out of the licensed area.
"JPNP had approved the license on Oct 15, 2020, and we subsequently acted to temporarily stop any works there to the license holder on Oct 30, 2020.
"After taking into account several factors, JPNP then decided to revoke the license to transfer logs out of the licensed area.
"However, the license holder can still proceed with tree cutting activities because the area has an alienated land status (kawasan berstatus tanah milik)," he said.
He said the JPNP also advised license holders to always take precautionary safety measures in the process of felling trees to avert untoward incidents.