KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 10): Focus Lumber Bhd announced that it has entered into an industrial tree planting agreement (ITPA) with Rakyat Berjasa Sdn Bhd (RBSB) to plant, rehabilitate and harvest forests in a 5,000-hectare area in Sabah’s Sungai Pinangah Forest Reserve.

In a Bursa Malaysia filing on Tuesday, the plywood maker said the ITPA would allow the group to manage and secure wood resources on a long-term basis in the designated area for the purposes of sustainable production of timber and natural forest produce and for harvesting, distributing, processing and export of such timber, forest industrial products and other relevant materials.

Through the agreement, Focus Lumber will have access to forests in the designated area for natural timber harvesting and subsequently, tree plantation activities to ensure sustainable timber production until September 2097.

RBSB is the licensee by virtue of a Sustainable Forest Management Licence Agreement dated Sept 10, 1997 between the government of Sabah and Yayasan Sabah in which the Yayasan Sabah under Clause 120 has assigned its rights and obligations to RBSB to grant permission to contractors to plant, rehabilitate and harvest forests under the principles of sustainable forest management and environmental conservation for economic, environmental and social purposes in the forest reserve area.

RBSB is principally responsible for extraction and sale of timber logs and reforestation of logged over areas. It is 98.04% owned by Innoprise Corporation Sdn Bhd, which in turn is 97.63% owned by Yayasan Sabah.

“The ITPA is not expected to have any material impact on the consolidated and earnings per share of the group for the financial year ending December 31, 2023 (FY2023),” it said.

Shares in Focus Lumber closed 0.005 or 1.02% lower to 48.5 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM112 million.