67 forestry firms face penalties

JAKARTA (JP): At least 67 timber companies are facing government penalties for failing to meet the March 1 deadline in paying their reforestation fees and forest royalties, a senior official at the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations said on Tuesday.

Director General of Utilization of Production Forests Waskito Soerjodibroto said that the companies have failed to pay off their debts amounting to Rp 123 billion as of February.

"We sent warnings to 147 companies and ordered them to pay off their debts before March 1. However, 67 of them have failed to meet the deadline," he said.

He said that the uncompliant timber firms have debts of over Rp 500 million each.

"The biggest offender is PT BP, to the tune of Rp 3 billion," he said but only named the company by its initials.

Sources at the ministry said that PT BP might be the country's second largest timber group PT Barito Pacific Timber, controlled by timber tycoon Prajogo Pangestu.

Barito executives, however, refused to comment when contacted on Tuesday.

Waskito said that firms guilty of not paying their reforestation funds and forest royalties will incur penalties either in the form of revoked logging contracts or a reduced production quota up to 60 percent.

"But the sanctions imposed on those timber companies will be decided on and publicly announced by Minister of Forestry and Plantations Muslimin Nasution soon," he said. (gis)