Illegal logging reaches serious level: Minister<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo
\nsaid yesterday that illegal logging in the country has reached a
\nvery serious level and needs to be comprehensively tackled.<\/p>\n
\"Illegal logging is getting rampant and criminals do it more
\nblatantly in almost all of our forest areas,\" he told the
\nparticipants of the national meeting of the Integrated Forest
\nSecurity Team (TPHT) under the Ministry of Forestry.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that the serious condition was reflected by the
\nincreasing number of complaints being voiced by the people
\nthrough Mailbox 5000 or put forward to senior government
\nofficials.<\/p>\n
The Mailbox 5000 is designed by the government to accommodate
\nall complaints from the general public related to public services
\nand law enforcement.<\/p>\n
\"We noticed from the complaints that the illegal logging also
\ninvolved government officials, foresters, military officers,
\nconcessionaires and industrialists,\" he noted.<\/p>\n
Asked to elaborate on the seriousness of such exploitation, he
\nsaid that his ministry found it hard to get exact data on the
\nnumber of logs cut illegally and on the country's protected
\nspecies illegally traded.<\/p>\n
\"We also find it difficult to quantify the yearly losses
\nsuffered by the country as a result of the illegal logging. But
\nit is now very serious,\" he noted.<\/p>\n
\"Considering the situation, I am asking TPHT to enhance its
\noperations of securing our forests,\" he noted.<\/p>\n
He expressed his concern that the TPHT, as a forest security
\nteam, had not performed their duties properly.<\/p>\n
\"It (TPHT) still pays more attention to reporting logs it has
\nconfiscated or found during operations. It should focus on taking
\naction against the criminals. We could reduce illegal logging to
\na much lower level,\" he said.<\/p>\n
TPHT was set up last year under Presidential Decree No.
\n22\/1995 to tackle the problem of illegal forest exploitation
\nacross the archipelago.<\/p>\n
During its operations last year outside Java, it found 340
\ninstances of illegal logging involving 30,737 cubic meters of
\nlogs and 24,907 cubic meters of processed wood. In Java it found
\n109 instances of such violations involving 49,389 of logs and
\n56,609 cubic meters of processed woods.<\/p>\n
He said that this year the government will take stronger
\nmeasures against those found illegally logging the forests.
\n\"We'll not only sanction or fine them. We'll enforce the
\nprevailing law and if necessary we take them to court,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The ministry of forestry has fired two of its officials--one a
\nsenior official of TPHT--after it was revealed they were involved
\nin illegal logging.<\/p>\n
The ministry also revoked a forest concession after it caught
\nthe concessionaire logging illegally last year. (13)<\/p>",
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