2021 continues to be a challenging year for the Group. The State Government policy on ban of round logs export remains while the overall economic activity was still weighed down by the ongoing pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) .
Notwithstanding the challenges, the Company was again awarded the Certificate of Compliance by the Sabah Chief Conservator of Forests for fulfilling the requirements for Annual Working Plan 2020 with unswerving performance. The certificate was awarded by the Sabah Chief Minister in a ceremony held on the 30 November 2021. The Company also remain submissive to the Sabah Timber Legality Assurance System (TLAS) and was certified compliant to the requirements of the Sabah TLAS Principle 1 – 4 based on the assessment conducted by GFS (Sabah) Sdn. Bhd. from the 8 November 2021 to 12 November 2021.In the process to achieve Malaysian Criteria and Indicator Standards, the Company intensify the effort to be ready for audit under Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (Natural Forest) in 2022.
The Company managed to offset the pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 to certain extent and aim to continue the performance in 2022. The commitment to replant a practical rehabilitation planting area with a combination of mosaic gap planting design and liberation treatment and carry out forest improvement through Silviculture activity and the practice of Reduced Impact Logging will remain in a sustainable approach. The Company will continue the effort in driving more efficient working environment and proficient cost control measure.
In spite of the challenging conditions, we are committed to make the Company a socially and environmentally responsible Company. We remain committed to Sustainable Forest Management Principles as we believe this is important for our future generations when we contribute towards prudent management of our forest resources to attain optimum economic, environmental and social returns.
Datuk Pau Chiong Ung
Chief Executive Office