Legislators protest plan to close down forestry firms<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Lawmakers have opposed a plan by the Ministry of Forestry to
\nclose down five ailing state-owned forestry companies, saying the
\nmove would only further damage the country's forests.<\/p>\n
Disapproval of the plan was voiced during a hearing on Monday
\nbetween the House of Representatives Commission III on forestry
\nand agriculture and Minister of Forestry Mohamad Prakosa.<\/p>\n
Prakosa had proposed earlier that forestry firms Inhutani I
\nthrough V be liquidated because they were not profitable enough
\nand they had failed to rehabilitate forests abandoned by forest
\nconcessionaires.<\/p>\n
Under the plan, forests under the Inhutani firms would be
\npartly surrendered to local villagers and some would be auctioned
\noff to private investors to turn the areas into plantations.<\/p>\n
The ministry is currently awaiting the approval of President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri.<\/p>\n
But legislators said that transferring the forests to private
\nparties would only worsen the condition of the country's forests.<\/p>\n
Legislator Ja'far Sidiq said the Ministry of Forestry should
\nfocus on restructuring the Inhutani firms or merge them into one
\nunit to take care of forests.<\/p>\n
\"The government should not liquidate the firms and sell off
\nthe forests at cheap prices to private firms. Such a move would
\nbe irresponsible,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He claimed that forest concessions under the Inhutani firms
\nwere in far better condition than those managed by private
\ncompanies.<\/p>\n
He said that most private companies were careless in
\nprotecting the forest as their main aim was profit.<\/p>\n
But Prakosa said that his office had thoroughly studied the
\nmatter and had concluded that the performance of the Inhutani
\nfirms in terms of finance and forest rehabilitation had been
\ndisappointing.<\/p>\n
\"We have studied the matter in depth, and we do not see any
\nother option other than closing down the firms,\" said Prakosa.<\/p>\n
On the sidelines of the meeting Prakosa said that his office
\ndid not need approval from the Office of the State Minister of
\nState Enterprises to close down the Inhutani firms because his
\nministry had the right to revoke forest concessions from any
\ncompany, be it state-owned or privately owned.<\/p>\n
Thus far, the five Inhutani firms control 99 concessions in
\nnatural forests covering some 6.5 hectares and 27 industrial
\nestate plantations covering about 2.4 hectares.<\/p>\n
Govt to revoke 14 HPHs<\/p>\n
The government will soon revoke the forest utilization
\nlicenses (HPHs) of 14 companies that have failed to sustain their
\nforest areas.<\/p>\n
Minister of Forestry Mohamad Prakosa said that according to
\nthe results of the first round of independent audits, 14 out of
\n27 companies had failed to sustain their natural forest
\nconcession areas as required.<\/p>\n
\"These concessionaires will be forced to stop their
\noperations,\" Prakosa said.<\/p>\n
The audits are being carried out by the newly established
\nIndependent Verification Institute (LPI).<\/p>\n
Prakosa refused to provide further details about the move,
\nsaying that a ministerial decree had yet to be issued.<\/p>\n
The decision by the Ministry of Forestry to revoke the HPHs of
\nerrant concessionaires is part of an overall effort to
\nrestructure the country's natural forests, which are being
\nthreatened by illegal logging and overexploitation by some
\ncompanies.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/legislators-protest-plan-to-close-down-forestry-firms-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}