LOGGING FIRMS NEAR AREA IDENTIFIED

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah police have identified the logging companies carrying out works at the site where 14 Borneo Pygmy elephants died mysteriously at the Gunung Rara Forest Reserve, about 139km from Tawau, recently.

Sabah police commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said, investigations have revealed that there were logging companies with 300 workers present at the said location.

However, he did not name them.

"The Criminal Investigation Department is in the process of completing the investigation. We know that the place is remote but we also know which companies are working there," he said during a press conference at the Sabah headquarters, here.

On Feb 1, police started investigating the case under Section 429 of the Penal Code for mischief towards animals, which is punishable by up to five years in jail.

He added that they did not discount the possibility that the elephants were poisoned as the dead animals were found with their stomachs ruptured.

"We have to wait for the chemist report to establish if it was poisoning and only then continue our investigation," he said.

He believed that the case would be solved after the chemist report and the RM50,000 reward for information leading to its resolution.

Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said an additional RM40,000 would be offered for information leading up to the arrest of the parties responsible for the endangered species death.

Earlier, the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) had put up a RM10,000 reward for the same purpose. (DE)