14 timber companies lose concessions<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government has revoked the logging
\nconcessions of 14 timber companies after they failed to pay
\noverdue reforestation fees by April 1, Minister of Forestry and
\nPlantations Muslimin Nasution said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Muslimin said the number was larger than the nine he initially
\nreported to President B.J. Habibie last week.<\/p>\n
The nine companies, which controlled 972,100 hectares of the
\ncountry's forest areas, have failed to pay debts amounting to Rp
\n47 billion.<\/p>\n
\"However, our latest data shows that 14 concessionaires have
\nfailed to meet the deadline. So we'll revoke the other five too,\"
\nhe announced.<\/p>\n
He said his decree on the annulment of logging concessions of
\nthe recalcitrant timber firms would be issued in the next two or
\nthree days.<\/p>\n
Muslimin said timber companies had been given a three-month
\ndeadline from January to settle their reforestation fees and
\nforest royalty debts, but there had been no response.<\/p>\n
\"Those timber companies were given a warning and a 2 percent
\nfine per month has been imposed on them since January. Since they
\nfailed to pay their debts before April 1, their logging contracts
\nhave been revoked,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Director General of Forest Utilization Waskito Soerjodibroto
\nsaid that unpaid reforestation fees reached more than Rp 137
\nbillion (US$16.1 million) as of the end of March.<\/p>\n
He refused to name the companies whose concessions were being
\nrevoked, saying that the government would reveal their identities
\nafter the decree on revocation was issued.<\/p>\n
He divulged that the debtors were timber companies operating
\nin East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Maluku and Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
He said PT Prabu Alaska, a timber firm operating in Irian
\nJaya, and another company operating in Kalimantan which was
\nlinked to Anthony Salim, the son of tycoon Liem Sioe Liong, has
\nprotested the termination of their logging concessions, saying
\nthey had already settled their debts.<\/p>\n
\"We are investigating it. If they settled their debts before
\nApril 1, we'll have to cancel the revocation of their logging
\nrights. But if payment was after the deadline, then they will
\nlose their licenses for good,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Waskito said it was possible that the two timber companies did
\nnot pay off their debts through one of the several banks
\nappointed by the ministry to handle payments, causing funds
\ntransferred to the government's account to arrive after the
\ndeadline.<\/p>\n
Reforestation fees are mandatory fees imposed by the
\ngovernment on forest concessionaires to ensure forests are
\nmanaged in an environmentally sustainable manner. The size of the
\nfee depends on the volume and type of timber felled.<\/p>\n
Since April 1 last year, the government has accounted for
\nreforestation funds collected from timber companies as nontax
\nreceipts in the state budget. Previously, the funds were
\ntransferred to the forestry ministry's bank account and its
\nallocation was governed by presidential decree. (gis)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/14-timber-companies-lose-concessions-1447893297",
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