Concessionaires responsible for forest destruction<\/p>\n
By Edi Patebang<\/p>\n
PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan (JP): Sasak Pekawai village in
\nSintang Regency, West Kalimantan, has been witnessing alarming
\nrates of forest and environmental destruction since regents were
\nrecently given the right to issue concessions over areas of
\nforest of greater than 100 hectares. The prospects of conflicts
\nover resource management are also now looming large.<\/p>\n
A recent conflict involving the PT. Erna Djuliawati timber
\ncompany in the province confirmed the public's fears over the
\nissuance of the concession. The company's spokesman Lukman
\nNulhakim said that the conflict broke out in early July between
\nPT. Erna Djuliawati, as the concessionaire, and its cooperative
\nmembers on the rights to manage the forest.<\/p>\n
The rift began when Sintang's regent, Elyakin Simon Jalin,
\nissued Regional Decree No. 19 of 1999 which gave the right to
\nlocal cooperatives to benefit from forest resources, including
\nthe timber within the 100-hectare area.<\/p>\n
The enraged villagers threatened to launch attacks, then
\nclosed the road to the area at kilometer 56 using only a thin
\npiece of plastic rope. Unprepared to take any risks, none of the
\ncooperative's members dared to touch the rope, forcing the
\ncompany to close down its operations for three days. Only after a
\ndeal with the villagers had been made was the company able to
\nresume its operations.<\/p>\n
\"The villagers shouldn't have closed the road as the company
\nhad nothing to do with the conflict. It was an internal problem
\nwith the cooperative,\" Lukman complained.<\/p>\n
The incident was sharply criticized by Tommy Ria -- a member
\nof the Provincial Legislative Council from The Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) -- who regretted Simon's
\ncareless decision in issuing the decree.<\/p>\n
\"He (the regent) should have first drafted the regency's
\nspatial plan prior to the issuance of the decree.\"<\/p>\n
Tommy urged the regent to postpone issuing further similar
\ndecrees due to the increasing problems in forest areas, but he
\nsaid Simon had disregarded his call and was persisting with his
\noriginal plan.<\/p>\n
A special coordination meeting on Aug. 2 in Pontianak -- which
\nwas attended by officials from the West Kalimantan Police, the
\nMinistry of Forestry's provincial office, the Ministry of
\nIndustry and Commerce's provincial office, the local
\nadministration, the immigration office, and customs and excise --
\nrevealed that out of 49 concessions, 14 of them were non-
\nexistent, six were in protected areas while the rest were in
\nlocations belonging to businesspeople who had previously obtained
\nconcessions from the New Order regime.<\/p>\n
West Kalimantan Police spokesman Suhadi said that the vast
\narea involved, the difficult terrain and a lack of funds made it
\nvirtually impossible for them to eradicate the problem of illegal
\nlogging.<\/p>\n
Forest exploitation<\/p>\n
The Sasak Pekawai conflict is only one of a number of cases
\nconfirming that the granting of these concessions is a
\ncontroversial and conflict-prone policy. Using the justification
\nof boosting regional income, many regents in West Kalimantan seem
\nbent on handing out concessions. It is a form of abuse of power
\nwhich will certainly encourage local officials to demand sopoi
\n(bribes) from timber businessmen to help them advance their
\nbusinesses.<\/p>\n
Up to July of this year, Kapuas Hulu regency had processed 123
\nconcessions for 123 cooperatives. Forty one of them have received
\npermits, 40 are still waiting for the permits and 42 are in the
\nprocess of submitting requests.<\/p>\n
In Sanggau regency, three out of the 12 concessions issued by
\nregent Michael Andjioe are facing revocation due to breaches of
\nthe regulations.<\/p>\n
Over large areas of West Kalimantan, many companies have been
\ntaking advantage of their already-expired concessions to continue
\nexploiting forests. They work in tandem with local businessmen in
\npaying all costs for permit and operating fees, including
\nproviding access to the area, building mini sawmills, acquiring
\ntractors, chain saws and dump trucks plus other additional
\nexpenses.<\/p>\n
In return for the services rendered by them, the local
\nbusinessmen sell their timber to the major concessionaires or
\nhave it processed at their sawmills. But it is the
\nconcessionaires who export the timber.<\/p>\n
On the West Kalimantan border with East Malaysia -- Sanggau,
\nSambas, Bengkayang and Kapuas Hulu -- big businessmen from the
\nneighboring country are allegedly helping local businessmen in
\nselling the timber in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Lecturer in the school of forestry at Tanjung Pura University
\nin Pontianak, Gusti Hardiansyah, said rampant illegal logging
\n(including uncontrolled deforestation by villagers who then sell
\nthe timber to concessionaires) was costing the country between Rp
\n10 billion and Rp 12 billion (US$1-1.3 million) per month. An
\nestimated 1.2 to 1.5 million cubic meters of logs are derived
\nannually from illegal logging in various areas including
\nproductive forests, limited productive forests, conservation
\nareas, protected forests and national parks.<\/p>\n
Arsen Rikson, a member of Commission III on agriculture,
\nforestry, transmigration and food affairs of the West Kalimantan
\nprovincial legislative assembly, pointed out that regents' lack
\nof knowledge of forest conservation programs when they granted
\nforest concession rights for areas of greater than 100 hectares
\nwas leading to accelerated deforestation throughout the country.<\/p>\n
\"This lack of knowledge has even made them make the wrong
\ndecisions. They sometimes even grant concessions over
\nconservation forests.\"<\/p>\n
He further said that both businessmen and local people
\nfrequently abused their rights using heavy equipment such as
\ntractors and bulldozers in concession areas, which was against
\nthe regulations.<\/p>\n
To prevent further devastation both in productive and
\nconservation forests, all those involved, including the regents,
\nMinistry of Forestry, Ministry of Industry and Trade, and
\nprovincial legislative councils, must review all of the
\nconcessions that have been issued to date.<\/p>\n
It is strongly recommended that regents temporarily stop
\ngranting concessions before establishing the necessary
\nregulations governing them. Otherwise, the dangers of
\nenvironmental destruction -- including floods and drought -- will
\nbe in store for us, with nothing left of our forests save for
\nlonely tree stumps.<\/p>\n
The writer is chief editor of the Kalimantan Review, monthly
\nmagazine published by the Pontianak Dayakology Institute.<\/p>",
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