Task force required to fight illegal logging<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government should set up a task force to deal with rampant
\nillegal logging, mining and poaching, which are causing billions
\nof dollars in state losses, the National Resilience Institute
\n(Lemhannas) said.<\/p>\n
"Such a task force should be taken into consideration -- the
\ngovernment must eliminate the roots of the problem," Lemhannas
\nhead Ermaya Suradinata told a House Commission hearing on
\nsecurity affairs on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Ermaya estimated the loss from illegal logging at US$3.5
\nbillion a year while fish poaching cost the state $4 billion
\nannually. Sand smuggling and fuel smuggling added another $8.1
\nbillion.<\/p>\n
"Indonesia's economy will collapse if these evil practices are
\nnot stopped," Ermaya warned.<\/p>\n
The combined $15.6 billion of annual losses equaled 37 percent
\nof the expected domestic revenue in the current fiscal year and
\nwas three times Indonesia's foreign debt budget.<\/p>\n
Commission members said the sand smuggling, mostly used for
\nreclamation projects overseas, had reduced Indonesia's territory.
\nThey suspected the rampant theft was perpetrated by government
\nofficials from different institutions with well-knit
\ncoordination.<\/p>\n
Ermaya suggested the government not only focus on big-time
\ncriminals, but also on officials in Jakarta and in regional
\nadministrations.<\/p>\n
Illegal logging, Ermaya said, was visible in the Annual Review
\nand Assessment of the World Timber Association 2001, which found
\ndiscrepancies in the volume of Indonesia's official timber
\nexports and the data of imported timber in recipient countries
\nsuch as China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands and the U.S.<\/p>\n
According to the report, China imported 617,712 cubic meters
\nof logs from Indonesia in 2000, but data in Indonesia showed that
\nit exported only 6,054 M3 to the world's most populated country.<\/p>\n
Malaysia claimed to import 523,000 M3 of logs from Indonesia
\nin the same period but Indonesia had no reported exports to its
\nneighbor.<\/p>\n
"Discrepancies are found not only in data about logs, but also
\nin timber and pulp," Ermaya added.<\/p>\n
Legislators expressed their disappointment with the increasing
\nscale of illegal logging.<\/p>\n
Deputy chairman of the Reform faction Djoko Susilo said the
\nillegal logging had left 43 million hectares of land in a
\ncritical condition.<\/p>\n
"Deforestation has depleted between 1.6 hectare to 2.1 hectares
\nof forest per year. It also has destroyed some species of our
\ndiverse forests," he said.<\/p>\n
Sidarto Danusubroto of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
\nStruggle also expressed a similar concern. Local government
\nofficials had been involved in the "illegal logging mafia," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Sidarto supported Minister of Forestry Muhammad Prakosa who
\nhas planned to launch a logging moratorium in an attempt to save
\nthe forest.<\/p>\n
The proposal has been opposed by four governors in Kalimantan,
\nhome to most of the country's tropical forest timber.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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