PUTRAJAYA: Every state has an Annual Cut Ration (CTT) for harvesting timber which is set by the National Land Council, said Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan.

"Each state has its stipulated quota (logs) each year which is determined at a meeting of the National Land Council chaired by the prime minister and attended by all chief ministers and menteris besar," he said.

He said this when asked on the statement of Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah that state governments did not have the power to determine their logging quotas and that logging activities were conducted in accordance with the National Forestry Act 1984.

Takiyuddin said he would contact Mohd Amar to seek clarification on his statement.

He said he had answered this question several times in Parliament and knew that each state had a CTT, which is set based on the Malaysian Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management since 2012, because he had been in the Kelantan exco before.

"Therefore, each state cannot cut or produce logs in excess of the stipulated quota," he said.

Takiyuddin stressed that the Malaysian government was committed to maintaining 50 per cent of the country's land area under tree and forest cover by 2040.

"Right now our forested area is around 55.3 per cent. Therefore we need to control this deforestation because if a forest is cleared, it takes a long time for reforestation," he said.

-- BERNAMA