364,000 cubic meters of illegal wood seized
364,000 cubic meters of illegal wood seized
JAKARTA (JP): The government confiscated 364,000 cubic meters
of illegally felled wood during the past three years, a senior
Ministry of Forestry official has reported.
Director General of Forest Protection and Nature Preservation
Soemarsono said yesterday the ministry has auctioned 237,000
cubic meters of the confiscated wood, bringing in Rp 13 billion
(US$1.44 million) in state revenues.
Soemarsono is also the chairman of the joint forest security
team, a provisional government law enforcement arm that
confiscated the wood.
"The team uncovered 1,526 cases (of illegal logging
practices), 458 of which have been brought to court. The rest are
still being processed. In most of the cases uncovered, smugglers
usually used fake documents to illegally transport logs and
processed wood," he said.
He declined to mention the amount of state losses caused by
timber theft and smuggling.
He explained that 69,000 cubic meters of the wood confiscated
was low quality wood -- categorized as mixed wood -- and would be
directly transferred to the State Ministry of Public Housing for
construction of low-cost housing.
Only the more expensive types of wood are publicly auctioned,
he said.
"We have evidence confirming that there has been illegal
transportation and selling of timber. It's a pity that several
wood processing firms are also involved by buying illegal timber
because its price is cheaper than legally cut timber," Soemarsono
said.
He said, however, it was difficult for the government to prove
that some big forest companies were involved in illegal cutting.
The joint forest security team, composed of officials from the
Ministry of Forestry, the Attorney General's office, the police
and the Armed Forces, was set up in 1995 under Presidential
Decree No. 22/1995 to combat illegal timber trade and
distribution.
The team's three-year mission will be finished on March 31.
Soemarsono said the government was considering extending the
team's operational period another year due to rampant illegal
timber cutting and smuggling in the country. (gas)