12 forest concessions to be auctioned: Official<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government will auction 12 logging licenses
\ncovering some one million hectares of forest concessions in East
\nKalimantan, an official said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The head of East Kalimantan's forestry and plantations office,
\nKayat R. Soekaryo, said the logging licenses would expire at the
\nend of this year. The government decided not to extend them to
\nthe current holders but auction them to the public.<\/p>\n
The concession forests up for auction include those controlled
\nby big names in the forestry industry, including timber tycoon
\nMohamad \"Bob\" Hasan, through PT Alas Helau, the Kayu Lapis
\nIndonesia Group, through PT Gama Mula Raya, and the Alas Kusuma
\nGroup, through PT Belayan River Timber and PT Sahid Timber II.<\/p>\n
Alas Helau currently holds 330,000 hectares of concessions in
\nthe province, Gama Mula Raya has 197,000 hectares, while Belayan
\nRiver and Sahid Timber each have 30,000 hectares.<\/p>\n
Other concessions to be auctioned include: 95,000 hectares of
\nforest currently controlled by PT Basuimex, 57,000 hectares
\ncontrolled by PT Meranti Sakti, 55,000 hectares under PT Jatrin,
\n53,000 under PT Tunggal Yudi Timber, 39,000 hectares under PT
\nBenegen Timber, 30,000 hectares controlled by PT Gunung Jati
\nRimba and 60 hectares by PT Marimun Timber, PT Gunung Jati and PT
\nLestari Greenland Utama.<\/p>\n
The new holders of the forest rights would be able to conduct
\nlogging activities in those forest concessions in the calendar
\nyear 2000, Kayat was quoted by Antara as saying in Samarinda,
\nEast Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
He said the government, through a tender committee, had
\nestablished strict requirements for prospective bidders.<\/p>\n
The bidders, he said, were required to have enough capital and
\nappropriate equipment, resources and techniques to manage the
\nforests. The companies must also be based somewhere in the
\nprovince.<\/p>\n
\"Prospective bidders will be obliged to provide a performance
\nbond or bank guarantee in an amount commensurate with the
\npotential yield of each area,\" Kayat said. \"The bank guarantee is
\nnecessary to prevent possible trading of concession rights.\"<\/p>\n
Director General of the Utilization of Production Forests
\nWaskito Soerjodibroto, who chairs the tender committee, said
\nearlier this year that three million hectares of forest
\nnationwide would be offered to the public through auction.<\/p>\n
The auctions would be open to everyone, including
\ncooperatives, private and state timber companies, who met the
\nrequirements, he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia earlier planned to introduce the auction system for
\nforest concessions by the end of July, to comply with the reform
\nagenda agreed with the International Monetary Fund. But the plan
\nwas rescheduled to the first quarter of this year.<\/p>\n
The auction would mark a change in the government's policy of
\ngranting forest concession rights to investors. The existing
\nconcession holders were all appointed by the government to carry
\nout logging operations.<\/p>\n
The government first began to award forest concessions to
\nprivate companies in 1971 under the Forestry Law, which grants
\nthe concession holder the sole right to cultivate and exploit the
\nforest in that concession area.<\/p>\n
The move has led to a concentration of the country's forest
\nassets in the hands of a small number of business groups, mostly
\nthose controlled by kin and cronies of former president Soeharto.
\n(gis)<\/p>",
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