SIBU: An ongoing crackdown by the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) on illegal bird's nest houses is also affecting licensed traders in the state, say industry players.
"All licensed traders involved in the buying and selling of bird's nests in the state have been told to suspend operations. Swiftlet house owners, even legal ones, are also affected," said trader Wong Chu Kion at a press conference here on Wednesday (May 10).
He also claimed that they have not been told when traders can resume operations.
Wong, who has been in the business for more than 10 years, said the issue involves unlicensed swiftlet houses owned by farmers in rural areas.
The good price for bird's nests, he said, have encouraged landowners and farmers to set up their own bird's nest houses.
The price of 1kg of unprocessed bird's nest is between RM1,500 to RM3,000, depending on condition, with 1kg of processed bird's nests selling for RM6,000.
"We were told during the operation that we ran afoul of the law as we bought bird's nests from illegal sources," said Wong.
He was one of four traders arrested and later released after giving a statement at the Sungai Merah police station.
A total of 882.657kg of bird's nests worth approximately RM2.5mil were seized in the operation.
Wong lodged a police report the next day saying 180kg of his bird's nests were seized when he was licensed to conduct the business.
He said that the 25-year-old Sarawakian law pertaining to bird's nest farming is outdated.
"In Peninsular Malaysia, you do not need a license for a bird's nest farming house if it is for commercial purposes. Ours should be the same," he said.
Wong said according to SFC records, there are about 20,000 bird's nest houses in the state but fewer than 200 are licensed.
"We hope assemblymen will hold a dialogue with SFC to solve this issue as the livelihoods of several thousand people are affected by this law," he said.
