High prices encourage illegal timber trading<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo
\nsaid yesterday that the low purchasing power of timber users
\ncombined with the rising price of timber has led to a significant
\nincrease in the illegal trade and distribution of timber.<\/p>\n
Speaking to House members of Commission IV, Djamaludin said
\nthat local consumers in timber-producing provinces are reluctant
\nto buy timber from concessionaires operating in their own regions
\nbecause timber prices on the black market are far cheaper.<\/p>\n
\"As a result, forest concessionaires do not want to meet their
\nobligation to set aside part of their timber production for local
\nutilization,\" Djamaludin told the commission, which oversees
\nagricultural and forestry affairs.<\/p>\n
The obligation, stipulated in a decree from the Director
\nGeneral of Forest Utility last May, requires a concessionaire to
\nallocate five percent of its annual timber production for
\nutilization in the province where it operates.<\/p>\n
Djamaludin said the huge difference between the prices of
\ntimber produced by concessionaires and the purchasing power of
\nlocal consumers has encouraged timber theft and the trade of
\ncheap, illegal wood on the local market.<\/p>\n
To solve the problem, he said, the Ministry of Forestry
\nstipulates that state forestry enterprises must provide timber at
\nprice levels affordable to local users.<\/p>\n
Prices of state-produced timber, he said, incorporate only the
\nfloor price with a reasonable profit margin, disregarding the
\ndevelopments of export prices.<\/p>\n
Holders of logging permits, Djamaludin said, will only be
\nallowed to use timber with a minimum diameter of 50 cm for
\nexport-oriented mills, while those with smaller diameters will be
\ndesignated for local consumption and feedstocks for particle wood
\nproduction.<\/p>\n
Director General of Forest Utilization Titus Sarijanto said
\nyesterday that a lack of penalties has led concessionaires to
\navoid their obligation to allocate part of their annual timber
\nproduction for local consumption.<\/p>\n
\"The implementation of the (May 1995) decree is still
\ndisappointing because there are no clear penalties yet for
\nviolators,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Shortage<\/p>\n
Legislator Sukoraharjo yesterday questioned the ministry's
\nplans to anticipate possibilities of a timber shortage in the
\nnear future in light of increasing consumer demand and government
\npurchases.<\/p>\n
He calculated that timber demand in Java in 1993 reached 7.5
\nmillion cubic meters, of which 1.3 million cubic meters were
\nproduced in Java and the other 6.2 million cubic meters were
\nproduced on other islands.<\/p>\n
\"According to available data, only two million cubic meters of
\nthe timber from islands other than Java were equipped with legal
\ndocuments, but the remaining 4.2 million cubic meters were not,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Djamaludin said that from the total demand of 7.5 million
\ncubic meters in Java, about 1.5 million cubic meters were
\nprovided by the state-owned Perhutani forest enterprise.<\/p>\n
The remaining six million cubic meters, he said, were obtained
\nfrom \"people's forests\" on Java and other islands.<\/p>\n
\"Estimates say Java can potentially harvest four million
\nhectares of timber a year from the people's forests, but the lack
\nof monitoring facilities cannot confirm this as yet,\" he said.
\n(pwn)<\/p>",
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