The Nation: Chavalit dares govt to

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Politics 

      Chavalit dares govt to
      arrest Salween culprits 

      New Aspiration Party leader Chavalit
      Yongchaiyudh yesterday dared the
      government to bring to justice those
      responsible for the massive illegal logging
      in the Salween National Park. 

      Denying any involvement in the illegal
      logging, Chavalit said if the government
      failed to disclose the wrongdoers' identity,
      ''it will show that the government is having a
      problem and is incompetent''. 

      It was Chavalit's first public response to the
      deforestation scandal after reports and
      articles linking it to the NAP. Several NAP
      members are said to be close to Thai
      logging firms which had won concessions
      in Burma. 

      More than 4,000 trees had been reportedly
      felled in the park and smuggled across the
      border and re-imported as logs with
      Burmese origins. 

      ''I have nothing to do with that. Whoever
      was involved must face the consequences
      of their wrongdoing. It is really a serious
      crime,'' Chavalit said. 

      ''From what I've been hearing, the Salween
      park is an influential area and the
      wrongdoers are part of a big racket. The
      government must bring all of them to
      justice.'' 

      Meanwhile, logging tycoon Som
      Chankrajang, denying involvement in the
      scandal, claimed yesterday the Bt5 million
      in cash given to a deputy forestry
      director-general was linked to the
      deforestation in the Salween National Park.

      Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, chairing a
      Cabinet meeting yesterday, criticised the
      relevant agencies for their failure to
      preserve the forests, saying he would
      establish a national committee to oversee
      forest preservation. 

      Chuan said Interior Ministry permanent
      secretary Chanasak Yuwaboon would be
      chairman of the new committee, which
      would be entrusted with probing the
      massive illegal logging in the Salween
      National Park. 

      Chuan said he had assigned PM's Office
      secretary general Nipon Prompan to be in
      charge of setting up the committee, which
      would be formed by tomorrow. 

      ''I've informed Interior Minister Sanan
      Kachornprasart that I want Chanasak to
      chair the committee,'' Chuan said. 

      He said the committee members will
      comprise representatives from the
      Agriculture Ministry, Customs Department
      and other related agencies as well as
      inspectors-general from the PM's Office. 

      Prawat Thanadka, deputy director general
      of the Royal Forestry Department (RFD),
      sparked the graft scandal when he brought
      the Bt5-million cash, which he claimed was
      dropped off at his residence by an unknown
      person, to Government House last
      Thursday, prompting the Agriculture
      Ministry to launch a disciplinary
      investigation into the alleged bribery
      atdtempt and the police to open a criminal
      probe on the origin of the ''hot'' money. 

      Prawat declined to speculate on the the
      source of and the motive behind the alleged
      bribe. 

      Police investigators are waiting for Prawat
      and his wife to give statements on possible
      leads on the attempted kickback and the
      physical profile of the person who delivered
      the money, although they have already
      traced the cash to Tak, a business
      stronghold of Som. 

      Press reports speculate that either the
      powerful businessman with the initial ''S'' or
      a military officer with the initial ''Kh'', who is
      a business partner in the firm that imports
      logs from Burma, might be behind the
      money. 

      Lt Gen Khemachart Nitisiri, a graduate of
      Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy
      Class 9, is a partner in the venture which
      has extensive logging dealings in Burma.
      He earlier claimed he had suspended his
      involvement in the logging operations last
      year. 

      Making his first public comment since the
      scandal broke, Som strongly denied
      involvement. 

      ''I am not involved with the poaching or the
      Bt5-million payment. All talk is pure
      speculation, I have no knowledge,'' he told
      Matichon. 

      Som insisted he had never engaged in
      illegal operations like falsifying the logs'
      origin. In the so-called ''Thai
      log-wearing-Burmese sarong'' operation,
      poachers would cut down trees in Thai
      forests along the western border, float them
      down the Salween River, an international
      border line, and then bring them back as
      imported Burmese logs from the border
      check-points. 

      ''Although I have been in the logging
      business for a long time, I have done
      nothing to cause damage to society or the
      country,'' the 73-year-old businessman
      said. 

      He denied he had pledged before Mae
      Hong Son governor Phakdi Chompooming
      to refrain from poaching, saying he had not
      even attend the meeting to which Phakdi
      had summoned him to issue a warning. 

      He claimed the logging, including the
      Salween forest plunder, was most certainly
      linked to the attempted kickback payment. 

      In previous press interviews, Som
      conceded he had connections with the
      Karen rebel group and helped to mediate
      business deals between Thai businessmen
      who obtained Burmese logging
      concessions and the Karens who dominate
      the concession areas. 

      Appearing on the Nation News Talk
      programme on Channel 9, Prawat
      explained that the deforestation of the
      Salween and other forests bordering
      Burma has risen because Thai
      businessmen would hire armed Karens to
      engage in poaching. 

      The illegal logs, floating down the Salween
      River, would be classified into two
      categories, the white route and the black
      route, he said. 

      The white route logs, based on the
      Burmese logging documents, would
      become legitimate after paying import
      duties and receiving permission from
      forestry officials to transport across the
      border. 

      The black route logs would ''somehow''
      pass border inspections and become
      legitimate even without the genuine
      certificate of origin. 

      Prawat said last year he had ordered the
      seizure of 13,180 logs floating down the
      Salween River at the Tak landing in order to
      trace their origin. 

      Also yesterday, Agriculture Minister
      Pongpol Adireksarn said he would not
      transfer Prawat and the forestry
      director-general, saying they were doing
      their best to protect the forests. 

      In another development, the House
      committee on justice and human rights
      assigned NAP MP Adisorn Piengket to
      investigate the alleged Bt5 million bribe. 

      The Nation