Sarawak bans import of plywood of 6mm or more thickness
BY ALVIN TANG
KUCHING: Sarawak has b a n n e d the import of ordinary-plywood w i t h t h i c k n e s s of 6nvm a n d above.
T h i s c o m e s f o l l o w i n g t h e r e v i s i o n of t h e S a r a w a k Timber Industry D e v e l o p m e n t C o r p o r a t i o n ( S T I D C ) R e g i s t r a t i o n C o n d i t i o n s a n d R e s t r i c t i o n s f r o m A p r i l 18, 2019.
The salient terms of revision i n c l u d e ' I m p o r t a t i o n of ordi- n a r y p l y w o o d fpr t h i c k n e s s of 6 m m a n d a b o v e is p r o h i b i t e d i n t o Sarawak," STIDC g e n e r a l manager Hashim Bojet said in a recent circular to all c o m p a n i e s involved in t i m b e r a n d t i m b e r related products registered with STIDC.
He d i d n o t , h o w e v e r , give t h e r e a s o n s f o r t h e i m p o r t ban.
M e a n w h i l e , i n i t s l a t e s t January-March edition of quar- terly newsletter, Perkasa, STIDC says t h e d w i n d l i n g r e s o u r c e s f r o m state n a t u r a l f o r e s t s h a s aggravated the challenges faced by t h e w o o d - b a s e d i n d u s t r y , particularly in Sarawak, in addi- t i o n to b u s i n e s s volatility a n d
STIDC urges industry players to invest in new technology to process raw materials from planted forests. Photo: IndiaMART
t h e c u r r e n t g l o b a l e c o n o m i c situation.
" T r a n s f o r m a t i o n p l a n s a r e crucial in h a n d l i n g these chal- lenges in c o n s o n a n c e with the government's aspiration to sus-
tain t h e industry so that it will r e m a i n as t h e m a i n s t a y of t h e economy.
"Our t r a n s f o r m a t i o n p l a n s , a m o n g others, a i m to e n c o u r - age the industry to source f r o m
planted forests.
S a r a w a k h o p e s t o e s t a b - lish o n e m i l l i o n h e c t a r e s ' of p l a n t e d f o r e s t s by 2025 w h i c h c o u l d p r o d u c e f o u r m i l l i o n c u b i c m e t r e s of r a w m a t e r i a l s annually," w r i t e s t h e Perkasa editorial.
STIDC u r g e s i n d u s t r y play- ers to invest in n e w technology to p r o c e s s r a w m a t e r i a l s f r o m planted forests.
" T o w a r d s t h i s e n d , vye a r e promoting the n e w industries to manufacture value-added prod- ucts, such as engineered wood, biomass, biofuel, pulp and paper a n d furniture using raw materi- als from planted forests.
"To c o m p l e m e n t raw materi- als from p l a n t e d forests, indus- t r y p l a y e r s a r e a l s o u r g e d t o i m p o r t r e s o u r c e s to cater for their needs."
STIDC, says t h e editorial, is also c u r r e n t l y p r o m o t i n g r u b - b e r w o o d to p r o d u c e f u r n i t u r e a m o n g f u r n i t u r e e n t r e p r e - neurs.
It is m a k i n g c o l l a b o r a t i v e efforts with the related ministries, F o r e s t D e p a r t m e n t , S a r a w a k Forest C o r p o r a t i o n (SFC) a n d R u b b e r I n d u s t r y Smallholders Development Authority (Risda)
to simplify the process to obtain r u b b e r w o o d .
S T I D C is a l s o p r o m o t i n g b a m b o o as a renewable source of r a w m a t e r i a l s , a n d 89 h e c - t a r e s of l a n d at S a b a l F o r e s t Reserve have b e e n e a r m a r k e d for a pilot b a m b o o p l a n t a t i o n project.
T w e l v e b a m b o o s p e - cies h a v e b e e n i d e n t i f i e d f o r the project.
S T I D C a n d S u b u r T i a s a H o l d i n g s B h d h a s s i g n e d a m e m o r a n d u m of u n d e r s t a n d - ing (MoU) in July 2018 to imple- m e n t t h i s pilot p r o j e c t a n d to develop the b a m b o o integrated industry.
"To ensure t h e success of our transformation plans, we are col- laborating in terms of research a n d development activities with t h e r e s e a r c h i n s t i t u t i o n s a n d other agencies such as Unimas, UITM, UCTS, FRIM, SFC, STA a n d U P M .
" T h r o u g h t h e s e t r a n s f o r - m a t i o n p l a n s , w e a r e r e a d y to face t h e c u r r e n t a n d f u t u r e c h a l l e n g e s i n t a n d e m w i t h o u r v i s i o n t o s p e a r h e a d t h e a d v a n c e m e n t of timber indus- try in Sarawak," c o n c l u d e s t h e editorial.
