FECOFUN wants smugglers punished
The Dang chapter of the Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN) has urged authorities concerned to take immediate action against people involved in denuding the Gangapur-based Saljhandi Community Forest.
It is the duty of the District Forest Office (DFO) and the District Administration Office (DAO) to make sure that the guilty do not get political protection and go scot-free for the crime they have committed, said Shobhakar Sapkota, district chairman of the FECOFUN, on Wednesday. The DFO has already suspended two staffers of the Gadawa Area Forest Office for letting timber smugglers cut down trees at the Saljhandi Community Forest. The forest authority has sent notifications to 13 others—including the chairperson of the community forest, Sharada Chaudhary—all suspected of involvement in timber smuggling, to present themselves.
Chaudhary, who is also a central member of the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Loktantrik (MJF-L), is yet to testify to the DFO. It is reported that she was one of the major figures running the racket under the patronage of MJF-L leader and Forest Minister Mohammad Wakil Musalman.
“Deforestation at Saljhandi has been going on for long. The authorities should not let the smugglers get away on any pretext,” Sapkota said.
Claiming that a large group of people is involved in the case, the FECOFUN chair demanded that both the DAO and the DFO should work extra hard to get to the bottom of the case and take legal action against everyone involved. He also drew the attention of authorities to the threat received by some members of the community forest for reporting the crime.
Following media reports about the deforestation run by a politically-backed ring, the Forest Ministry and the Department of Forests had initiated separate investigations and concluded that local forest officers and the community forest members were involved in felling trees in Saljhandi and Deukhuri regions of Dang. The probe reports, however, did not mention the involvement of political figures as claimed by many, including FECOFUN.
Posted on: 2012-02-04 10:19
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