ACC suspends 18 sawmills in Haa and Paro over alleged corruption

Dechen Dolkar

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has barred 18 sawmills in Haa and Paro from conducting business or entering into contracts with public agencies, after uncovering prima facie evidence of corruption during an ongoing investigation into the timber sector.

The suspension, which took effect on June 23, affects 15 sawmills in Haa and three in Paro.

The ACC said the affected operators are barred from contractual dealings with public agencies until further notice, but declined to disclose additional details, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation.

Haa has been the subject of repeated reports of alleged illegal timber extraction and corruption linked to sawmill operations since 2010. Allegations of illegal timber harvesting and bribery involving forestry officials have surfaced over the years.

Some sawmill owners were alleged to have extracted timber illegally from state forests, often in collusion with forestry officials accused of accepting bribes to facilitate unauthorised extraction, transport, and processing of timber beyond approved quotas.

According to the Forest and Nature Conservation Rules and Regulations, any person who illegally fells or extracts special-class timber from State Reserved Forest Land without a valid permit and official hammer mark commits an offence under Section 183 of the Act. Offenders are liable to pay a fine of Nu 150 per cubic foot for both logs and sawn timber, the fair market value of the timber,  compensation as determined by the Natural Resources Pricing Committee, and face confiscation of the illegally harvested timber.

Based on the applicable penalties, the total financial liability for a truckload of illegally extracted timber could amount to approximately Nu 200,000.

Sources said forestry officials failed to penalise illegal extraction even after it was detected, and did not carry out inspections at sawmills despite receiving reports of unlawful activity.

Sources said all this act of deliberately ignoring the illegal activities being committed right under their nose, strongly points to collusion between sawmillers and forestry officials.

It is alleged that without the collusion, it is difficult to commit illegal forestry activities. Either the act has to be committed at the dead of the night to dodge getting caught. When the forestry officials collude, patrolling is not conducted. Even if conducted, it is done in areas other than where illegal activities are happening. Otherwise, the patrol plan is usually shared or other party is informed before hand to avoid getting caught

Sources also said that the ACC has uncovered bank transactions between several sawmill owners and forestry officials from Haa, as well as a few officials from Paro, covering the period from 2018 to this year.

As part of the investigation, the ACC has seized the mobile phones of several sawmill owners.

Haa currently has 24 registered sawmills.