Concession limits not to affect existing deals<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Forestry and Plantations Muslimin
\nNasution said on Tuesday a government plan to limit the amount of
\nstate forests controlled by individuals and companies would not
\naffect existing logging contracts.<\/p>\n
Muslimin said the government would honor all of its existing
\nlogging contracts but warned he would revoke any permit held by
\nconcessionaires found to be violating logging and forest
\nmanagement regulations.<\/p>\n
\"We will honor all the existing contracts, but after they
\nexpire new contracts will be proffered based on the new
\nregulation,\" Muslimin said in a weekly news briefing.<\/p>\n
Muslimin said each concessionaire would be limited to own a
\nmaximum of 100,000 hectares of forest in a province under the new
\nregulation, now being prepared by the government.<\/p>\n
Concessionaires will be allowed to manage other forest areas
\nin other provinces, he said, but the total area under their
\nmanagement could not exceed 400,000 hectares.<\/p>\n
He said plantation companies, except sugarcane plantations,
\nwould be not be allowed to manage more than a total of 100,000
\nhectares of land, with a limit of 20,000 hectares in each
\nprovince.<\/p>\n
\"The restriction is aimed at giving equal business
\nopportunities to Indonesian businesspeople, including
\ncooperatives and small businesses,\" he said.<\/p>\n
But, he said, the restrictions would be flexible, based on the
\nareas and the commodities planted.<\/p>\n
\"For example, tea or coffee plantations need smaller areas
\nthan oil palm plantations, while sugarcane plantations need up to
\n150,000 hectares nationwide. The details of the plan are still
\nbeing prepared.\"<\/p>\n
Muslimin said the country's forest concessions were currently
\ncontrolled by a handful of business groups, which managed logging
\ncontracts for millions of hectares of forests.<\/p>\n
\"Such a scale of forest control is not fair and has forced the
\ngovernment to reexamine its policy to increase forest management
\nefficiency,\" he said.<\/p>\n
At least 422 private companies are currently involved in
\nlogging activities on 51.5 million hectares. Most of them are
\noperating under just 14 leading business groups.<\/p>\n
According to ministry data, Kayu Lapis Indonesia Group, owned
\nby Hunawan Widjajanto, is the country's largest forest concession
\nholder. It controls 3.5 million hectares of forest, while Burhan
\nUray's Djajanti Group comes in at a distant second with 2.9
\nmillion hectares.<\/p>\n
Prajogo Pangestu's Barito Pacific Group controls 2.7 million
\nhectares and Mohamad \"Bob\" Hasan's Kalimanis Group manages 1.6
\nmillion hectares.<\/p>\n
The country's six state forestry companies -- the five PT
\nInhutani companies and Perum Perhutani -- oversee logging
\noperations spread over approximately 2.3 million hectares.<\/p>\n
The government first began to award forest concessions to
\nprivate companies through a 1971 forestry Law, which grants
\nconcessionaires the sole right to carry out logging operations in
\ntheir concession areas.<\/p>\n
Abbas Adhar, the chairman of the Association of Indonesian
\nWood Panel Producers (Apkindo), said separately on Tuesday the
\ngovernment's new restriction plan threatened existing timber
\ncompanies.<\/p>\n
Limits on forest concessions would hurt operations of the
\ncountry's wood-processing industry, he said.<\/p>\n
Most of the country's wood-processing plants, set up to meet a
\ngovernment requirement that timber companies or forest
\nconcessionaires operate their own processing facilities, would
\nface acute shortages in raw material should the regulation be put
\nin place, he argued.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a hearing with the House of Representatives
\nCommission III for agriculture, forestry, transmigration and food
\naffairs, Abbas said most timber companies owned wood-processing
\nfacilities in their concession areas.<\/p>\n
He said, for example, the Barito Pacific Group had a plywood
\nindustry with an annual production capacity of 1.5 million cubic
\nmeters. The group controlled a large concession area because its
\nplants needed a huge supply of logs.<\/p>\n
\"The government plan is good but it shouldn't force plywood
\nproducers to suffer from a scarcity of logs,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the same hearing, Adi Warsita Adinegoro, chairman
\nof the Association of Indonesian Forest Concessionaires, urged
\nthe government to base its limits on each area's yield potential
\nsince the country's forests differed significantly. (gis)<\/p>",
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