Illegal logging surged due to corruption: Report<\/p>\n
Associated Press
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Corruption in Indonesia's police and military has contributed to
\na surge in illegal logging that has destroyed much of the
\ncountry's forests, an environmental group said in a report
\nreleased Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)
\ncalled on foreign donors to consider tying future assistance to
\nproof that the Indonesian government is cracking down on illegal
\nlogging. It urged President Megawati Soekarnoputri to take the
\nlead in fighting corruption.<\/p>\n
\"The president must give leadership and support to those in
\nher government who are trying to stop illegal logging by
\nproactively tackling the blatant corruption that blocks all
\nprogress,\" said Dave Currey, director of the EIA.<\/p>\n
Until now, illegal logging has gone mostly unchecked in
\nIndonesia despite repeated assertions by foreign donors and
\nenvironmental groups that the country's virgin rain forest could
\nbe destroyed by 2005. Environmental groups estimate that as much
\nas 70 percent of the logs exported are illegal, including an
\nincreasing number from the country's national parks, and that 70
\npercent of the country's forests has been destroyed.<\/p>\n
The report, titled \"Above The Law: Corruption, Collusion,
\nNepotism and the Fate of Indonesia's Forests,\" comes a week
\nbefore a key meeting of international donors known as the
\nConsultative Group on Indonesia that will discuss future
\nassistance. Among the topics on its agenda is the management of
\nthe country's remaining forests.<\/p>\n
The report alleges that the military - through its private
\nbusinesses - has logged illegally and operated saw mills to pay
\nthe daily expenses of troops. The military has long denied being
\ninvolved in illegal logging.<\/p>\n
It says the police and the courts have failed to prosecute
\nillegal loggers, even when other Indonesian agencies, including
\nthe Ministry of Forestry and navy, intervened.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has taken steps to curb illegal logging, including
\nan export ban announced last year and discussions of swaps of
\noutstanding national debt for money that would go to
\nenvironmental programs.<\/p>\n
But most of the efforts have been derailed by corruption, the
\nreport says.<\/p>\n
It says investigators from the EIA - an independent group
\nwhich investigates environmental crime - have complained since
\n1999 about illegal logging in Tanjung Puting National Park, but
\nnothing significant has been done beyond promises from local
\ngovernment officials.<\/p>\n
\"Loggers have always returned to the park and destruction
\ncontinues today,\" the report says. \"Vast tracts of the park have
\nbeen affected and a commercial infrastructure of log rails,
\nlogging camps and log ponds have been developed across the park.
\nThe situation is worse today than it was in 1999.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/illegal-logging-surged-due-to-corruption-report-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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