Swiftlet farms not allowed on reserve land

The Star: ELAN PERUMAL and STUART MICHAEL at the Selangor state assembly

WITH increasing encroachment by swiftlet farm operators in Kapar Tambahan Forest Reserve area, the Selangor Forestry Department will notify the Kuala Selangor Land Office to get the operators out of the area.

According to state agriculture, natural resources and entrepreneurial development committee chairman Yaakob Sapari, the Kuala Selangor land office had made a mistake in giving out Temporary Occupancy Land (TOL) inside the Kapar Tambahan Forest Reserve.

“This was not supposed to happen as it is under Forestry Land and the Forestry Department is unable to take any action due to this. “The Selangor Forestry Department will submit a working paper to cancel the TOL on the land.

“Then, the Selangor Forestry Depart­­­­ment can start replanting the area with forest trees,’’ said Yaakob, who was asked by Saari Sungib (PR-Hulu Kelang) on the illegal swiftlet farms at the Forest Reserve areas in Selan­gor and other forms of encroachment.

Sarawak Bird’s nest production rises 36% last year value RM 11.4 millions

Wednesday November 3, 2010  By SHARON LING  sharonling@thestar.com.my

SARAWAK’s production of swiftlet nests rose by 36% from 2,095kg in 2008 to 2,854kg last year, with an export value of RM8.37mil and RM11.41mil respectively.

Planning and Resource Management Assistant Minister Naroden Majais said the increase showed that the industry had the potential to be successfully developed in the state. He added that, as of October this year, the production was 1,757kg valued at RM7mil. “Swiftlet farming is a potentially lucrative industry. The market price for swiftlet nests ranges from RM3,000 to RM10,000 per kg depending on the quality and grade of the nests. “China is our biggest market for edible swiftlet nests, followed by Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia,” he told the State Assembly in Kuching in reply to Julaihi Narawi (BN - Sebuyau), Datuk Wan Abdul Wahab Wan Sanusi (BN - Sadong Jaya) and Abu Seman Jahwie (BN - Jemoreng).

Naroden said that two licences were needed for commercial swiftlet farming, one to construct the building for the swiftlets to nest in and one for the rearing of the birds. He said the state received 1,111 applications for swiftlet farming from 2008 to Oct this year. Of this, 248 licences to construct buildings and two to rear swiftlets were approved while the rest were still being evaluated. He added that the construction of swiftlet farms was continuously monitored to prevent illegal farming operations.

“The Forest Department and Sarawak Forestry Corporation conducted two inspections between 2009 and March this year, from which 418 swiftlet farming premises are being investigated. “The state has also issued warnings to owners of illegal swiftlet farms. They are advised to submit the necessary applications,” he said.

RM5mil for swiftlet farming

From http://thestar.com.my/

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government has allocated RM5mil to involve the country’s hardcore poor in the swiftlet farming industry. The Veterinary Services Department has identified 500 families under the e-Kasih database who are eligible to receive an RM10,000 grant each to set up swiftlet premises.

“We will encourage them to collaborate with each other in joint swiftlet farming as bigger premises are more productive and will generate a higher income for them,” said department director-general Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Jamaluddin. He also announced that the swiftlet industry guidelines would be unveiled next month to govern the licensing, farming, processing as well as import and export of bird’s nest.

The industry, which is an entry point project under the Economic Transformation Programme, is expected to capture 30% of the global market and generate revenue of up to US$1.45bil (RM4.5bil) by 2020. “We are encouraging the participation of bumiputras in this industry as they currently only make up 20% of swiftlet farmers in the country,” he said after launching the 7th series of seminars on swiftlet farming at a hotel here yesterday.

Swiftlet farmers are required to attend the one-day seminar before they can be licensed.