State forests looted for Jepara furniture<\/p>\n
By Yusran Edo Fauzi<\/p>\n
BLORA, Central Java (JP): In 1998, particularly in the period
\nfollowing the May riots, the forests managed by Perum Perhutani
\nUnit I Central Java in Randublatung, Blora witnessed the illegal
\nfelling of about 19,140 teak trees, making Blora the second
\nbiggest victim of forest looting after Pati regency.<\/p>\n
Some of the perpetrators of the illegal felling were arrested
\nduring an operation after the Central Java Police chief issued a
\n"shoot on sight" order.<\/p>\n
Among those arrested were 38 policemen, several military
\nofficers, and a number of forest rangers and Perhutani employees.
\nMost of them were caught red-handed felling trees, in the street
\nand at the timber stacking sites.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the perpetrators of illegal felling this year
\nare still at large. Also, there has yet to be concrete evidence
\nproduced to support Perhutani's claim that as of July this year,
\nthe state had suffered Rp 4.5 billion in losses.<\/p>\n
Local legislative council members and non-governmental
\norganizations doubt the claim because of the lack of evidence.<\/p>\n
In a recent discussion involving Perhutani, the Blora regent,
\nthe local legislative assembly, NGO representatives and
\necologists from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, it
\ntranspired that Blora residents had been looting the timber to
\nvent their anger at the residents of neighboring Jepara whom they
\nsaid had prospered from Blora's teak.<\/p>\n
According to Blora residents, the situation is as follows.<\/p>\n
The forested area in Blora constitutes 48 percent of the
\nentire regency. Unfortunately, the forests do not make Blora
\nresidents rich. The Jepara residents get rich, instead, as they
\nare the purchasers of the timber.<\/p>\n
"When I was a university student, I often thought why forest-
\nrich Blora's roads were in a state of disrepair and also why most
\nof the residents were badly off. Were these poor conditions the
\nresult of a corrupt bureaucracy or should they be blamed on the
\nregional legislators who did nothing concrete but collect their
\nsalaries every month," chairman of the Blora regency legislative
\nassembly, Warsid, said.<\/p>\n
Now Warsid knows the reason. Law No. 9\/1969 stipulates that
\nstate enterprises should try their best to maximize profit, while
\nPerum Perhutani is given sole authority over forests in Blora.<\/p>\n
The allocation of profits from forest products comes within
\nthe authority of the central government. This means the that the
\nBlora regency administration has no authority over this matter.
\nSo, the Blora regency administration is reduced to relying solely
\non forest royalties as its source of revenue. There are no other
\nitems in the budget which are capable of jacking up the regency's
\nrevenues.<\/p>\n
The Blora residents' resentment toward their richer fellows in
\nJepara may be likened to the envy that the mainland Chinese
\nnurtured for the prosperity enjoyed by their fellow Chinese in
\nHong Kong when it was still a British colony.<\/p>\n
Jepara has hardly any forests. The Jepara people, however, can
\nmake a lot of money as skilled wood craftsmen and carvers, and
\ndepend heavily on forestry. By contrast, the Blora people are
\ngenerally barely able to keep body and soul together despite
\ntheir vast forests.<\/p>\n
In Blora, where some 7,000 people have lost their jobs since
\nthe crisis began in July 1997, rice cultivation is not a viable
\nalternative as a kilogram of unhusked rice only fetches Rp 800
\nnowadays.<\/p>\n
In fact, the same thing applies in Jepara but the farmers
\nthere have another alternative for earning a living. Furniture
\nfactories prioritize local Jepara people when recruiting workers
\ninto the thriving industry.<\/p>\n
In 1998 alone, some 600,000 cubic meters of teak, mahogany and
\nother varieties of timber that cost about Rp 4 million per cubic
\nmeter, were purchased for the production of carved wooden
\nfurniture.<\/p>\n
The official data show that as of this November, Jepara is
\nhome to some 4,000 furniture producers. Most of their products
\nare exported with a profit margin of over 100 percent. That's why
\nthey are always ready to buy teak at high prices regardless of
\nwhether it is looted or Perhutani-labeled. Their production costs
\nare paid in rupiah but their earnings are in US dollars.<\/p>\n
There are some 60,000 Jepara residents working in this sector.
\nThey have all benefited from the increase in the value of the US
\ndollar against the rupiah.<\/p>\n
It is also the case that, according to the Jepara agricultural
\noffice, there are some 240,000 farmers in the area. They grow
\nChavendis bananas for export. So in general, the pinch of the
\nmonetary crisis has not been felt in Jepara.<\/p>\n
Just as in other places that have reaped windfalls from the
\nrise in the dollar's exchange rate against the local currency, in
\nJepara the people spend their newfound wealth buying land,
\nautomobiles, jewelry and expensive electronic equipment.<\/p>\n
The opposite has happened in Blora. The increase in the
\nexchange rate of the US dollar against the rupiah has dealt a
\nstrong blow to the regency's economy. Only a few people operate
\nfurniture home industries. They do not export their products
\nbecause they cannot compete with their fellows from Jepara.<\/p>\n
In terms of regional revenues, the contribution of furniture
\nexports has shown a downward trend. In fiscal 1997\/98 at the
\nearly stage of the monetary crisis, the furniture industry
\ncontributed 14.48% of overall revenues. This figure fell to 10.65
\npercent in 1998\/99.<\/p>\n
Understandably, the people of Blora are envious of their
\nneighbors in Japara. Instead of physically assaulting the Jepara
\npeople, they have turned this envy into a desire to get rich
\nquickly by illegally felling teak and mahogany trees.<\/p>\n
The indications showing that illegal felling has taken place
\nin Blora can be gleaned from the data collected by the local
\nPerum Perhutani. Jepara needs some 600,000 cubic meters of
\ntimber. This quantity is far beyond Perum Perhutani's capacity.<\/p>\n
This state enterprise is able to supply a total of only
\n676,000 cubic meters to meet the total demand in Central Java and
\nYogyakarta. If it were to meet the demand from Jepara, Perhutani
\nwould only have 76,600 m3 left for these two provinces.<\/p>\n
Obviously, the high demand for timber in Jepara has prompted
\npeople to fell trees illegally, especially since the onset of the
\neconomic crisis.<\/p>\n
"If there were not such a high demand from the furniture
\nindustry in Jepara, few would resort to illegal felling," said an
\nobserver of forest ecology, Rama Ardana Astraatmaja of Arupa, a
\nYogyakarta-based non-governmental organization.<\/p>\n
Chief of the forest management unit in Blora, Soemarsono, said
\nthat the forests under his control saw illegal felling of some
\n318,000 cubic meters of timber between January 1998 and July
\n2000, most of which was teak.<\/p>\n
This massive illegal felling has reduced the forested area by
\n4,433.85 hectares. "In the year 2000 alone, Perum Perhutani in
\nthe Randublatung forest management unit in Blora has sustained
\nlosses worth Rp 4.5 billion. The magnitude of the illegal felling
\nhas left us deeply shocked!" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/state-forests-looted-for-jepara-furniture-1447893297",
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