Apkindo protests logging quota cut
Apkindo protests logging quota cut
Tony Hotland, Jakarta
Local logging industry players are objecting to the
government's decision to cut the logging quota again for next
year, saying the decision could leave the domestic timber
industry hanging by a thread and that it will be ineffective in
protecting the natural forests.
Indonesian Wood Panel Association (Apkindo) chairman Martias
said that the decision would not be able to protect the forests
unless the government acted aggressively against uncontrolled and
widespread illegal logging, which they argued was the main reason
for the rapid destruction of the country's forests.
"The decision means less raw materials and a higher production
cost for the industry, leading to the shut-down of companies,
while at the same time illegally cut will logs continue to flood
the market," he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
"And at the end of the day, the quota cut will lead to more
layoffs as more companies will have to close and dismiss their
employees en masse. This, in turn, will result in the decrease in
export volume and value," he added.
Last week, the government announced a further cut in the
logging quota from natural forests at 5.45 million cubic meters
for 2005, down from 5.74 million cubic meters this year. In 2003,
the quota was at 6.98 million cubic meters, far from 12 million
cubic meters in 2002.
The gradual quota decrease is part of the government's efforts
to protect the nation's rapidly diminishing natural forests. It
has been predicted that in the next decade, the quota will be
down to just 2 million cubic meters per year.
Martias said that there were only 70 plywood companies left in
the country, from 115 a few years ago, and not all of them were
operating at full capacity for various reasons, most notably, a
shortage of their most basic raw material -- wood.
He predicted that plywood exports, which used to be a major
foreign exchange earner for the country a decade ago, would drop
to less than four million cubic meters this year, from the 4.5
million cubic meters in 2003 and 5.5 million cubic meters in
2002.
He called on the central government to sit down with local
administrations and the businesspeople to discuss how to
restructure the forestry industry and how to keep it running and
sustainable.
While announcing the new logging quota, the government urged
the industry to import logs or to procure them from industrial
timber plantations (HTI) to alleviate the raw material shortage.
Martias however dismissed the proposal as implausible given
the problems confounding the existing HTI investors and the
reluctance of new investors to enter the sector.
"Many HTI investors are dealing with legal uncertainties and
cash shortages due to the government's lack of coordination with
local administrations. And new investors are reluctant to invest
in the sector because their is too much risk," Martias argued.
He explained that today, securing an HTI license from the
central government did not guarantee it would be able to operate
on the designated land because the local people might prevent
them -- usually with mass demonstrations and/or road blockades --
from entering the concession.
They concluded that the only way to attract new investment in
the HTI sector, was for the government to provide investors with
absolute certainty by improving law enforcement.