41 concessionaires may lose logging rights

JAKARTA (JP): Forty one of 108 concessionaires which operate industrial forests under a transmigration scheme (HTI-Trans) will likely lose their annual logging rights.

"If they do not operate industrial forests under the transmigration scheme, we will not give them annual logging rights next April," Minister of Forestry Djamaloedin Soeryohadikoesoemo told journalists after presenting awards to successful concessionaires here yesterday.

Meanwhile, Director General of Forest Concession Waskito Suryodibroto said the Ministry of Forestry has so far awarded logging rights to 67 HTI-Trans concessionaires. The concession given for each concessionaire ranges from 4,000 hectares to 6,000 hectares.

According to the minister, the HTI-Trans concessionaires are required to allocate 50 percent of jobs in their areas for local people and the other 50 percent for transmigrants.

To deal with the problem of locations for HTI-Trans program, the minister said he has provided concessionaires with conversion forests. However, the ownership of the lands should be converted to the people, not to those working in the concessionaires.

Djamaloedin noted that for this fiscal year he has allocated Rp 19 billion (US$8 million) for HTI-Trans programs. "The programs must be successful," the minister stated.

He said he will invite the directors of related state companies responsible for the HTI-Trans programs to what he called a "business lunch."

"This business lunch is to smoothen communication because if it is done by correspondence it needs longer time," Djamaloedin was quoted by Antara as saying. (rid)