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The Timber Industry and Forest Administration in Sabah under Chartered Company Rule

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2011

David W. John
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Extract

Despite the dominant role the timber industry now plays in the economy of Sabah, little is known of the development of the industry prior to the Pacific War. The small amount that has been published on the pre-war situation appears in the Malayan Forester, but the destruction of records in Sabah during the Japanese Occupation has greatly impeded detailed research. For the present study the papers of the British North Borneo (Chartered) Company now held in London have served as a source of far more comprehensive information than occurs in the oft-quoted secondary sources. The aim of this paper is to provide the first detailed account of forest policy and administration, and a systematic analysis of the development of the timber industry in pre-war North Borneo.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , March 1974 , pp. 55 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 1974

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References

1 The BNBC Co. Papers are now housed in the Public Record Office, London, as CO. 874/1–1014; subsequent references in this paper merely cite a brief title of the item and quote the appropriate reference number.

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45 While the traditional export channels for timber were being progressively constricted by the reduced number of vessels visiting east coast ports the Conservator proposed to visit Asian markets in an attempt to discover interstices in the pattern of regional timber distribution. His attention was directed towards India because tonnage was available via Singapore to Calcutta.

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103 Ibid, 1939.

104 C.O. 874/725 Governor to President, No. 544, 30 Dec. 1935. The Reserves were classified according to function:

Class I Forests, the preservation of which was essential for climatic or physical reasons.

Class II Forests for the supply of timber and other products for commercial purposes.

Class III Forests for the supply of timber and other products for local consumption.

Class IV Forests reserved for the protection of edible birds' nest caves.

105 C.O. 874/728 Governor to President, 27 Jan. 1939.

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110 Ibid, 1938, p. 7.

111 “Total labour force” refers to the aggregate figure for the labour returns submitted by employers of twenty labourers or more. This represents an approximate indication of the level of employment in the western-managed commercialised sector of the economy. In 1911, the adult male population numbered about 80,000.

112 North Borneo: Annual Report of the Department of the Protector of Labour, 1909, 1919, 1923.

113 BNBCCo. Handbook, 1886, Appendix.

114 C.O. 874/717 D. D. Wood to Government Secretary, No. C. F. 198/22.

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