File photo of bird’s nests being sold in the market.
SIBU (May 20): Plans are afoot by a group to gather all the bird’s nest operators in Sarawak to apply for business licence and to comply with the rules and regulations under the Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998, which are essential for sustainable management of the industry.
The operators’ group spokesman Victor Ting said they were also in the process of getting the bird’s nest operators to form an association and establish pro-tem committees.
“The association will serve as a platform for us to communicate more effectively and efficiently with Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) and also to gain access to updates on regulations for the industry,’ he added.
Ting said they supported all the initiatives taken by SFC against illegal activities that would bring about a negative impact to the bird’s nest industry.
“We are aware that many of our operators are unlicensed and that is why we are sincerely calling on all the unlicensed operators to immediately apply for the licences to carry out their business legally.”
He also hoped that the relevant government departments would look into their applications with utmost urgency so that there would not be any unnecessary delays or other factors affecting the approval process.
SFC, in its recent Facebook post, said over 800 bird’s nest operators in the state do not have a valid licence and only a total of 491 bird’s nest licences have been issued in Sarawak to date.
Ting said the Malaysia bird’s nest industry is currently ranked the fourth biggest in the world after Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
“We can see that there is huge demand for bird’s nests in the world and we do hope to continue our businesses after all these problems are settled,” he added.
On May 3, a total of 882.657 kg of bird’s nests, worth approximately RM2.5 million, were seized in Sibu during a joint operation involving SFC Sibu and Sibu Marine Police Zone 5.
SFC said initial investigation found that there was evidence that the bird’s nests were exported without a permit.
However, the businessmen claimed they were operating according to the law with appropriate licences and had also been paying taxes.
Following that operation, Ting said the livelihood of the bird’s nest operators was affected.
However, he denied saying all licensed traders involved in the buying and selling of bird’s nests in Sarawak were told to suspend their operations.
“I did not touch on such issue and I do not have the authority to say such thing anyway,” he said when clarifying on a newspaper report that quoted him as saying all the licensed traders were told to suspend their operations after the May 3 raid.
In the SFC Facebook post, SFC also reiterated it had never issued any notice or directive instructing unlicensed swiftlet farmers to suspend their operations.
Ting said they are willing to work closely with SFC for the betterment of the industry and also for the operators’ livelihood.
“Hopefully, the government will look into our plights and only then, we can come up with solutions to help ourselves.”