Cirebon council urges stop to illegal log shipments
Nana Rukmana and Rusman, Cirebon/Samarinda
West Java's Cirebon legislative council has asked local authorities to stop the shipments of illegal logs at the city's port, which have continued unhindered for the last three years.
Councillors accused certain government and security officials of backing the crime, which they said cost the state up to Rp 130 billion (US$14.4 million).
"Based on our calculations, the state losses caused by the illegal activity reach billions of rupiah. We want the police to take firm action against them immediately," council speaker Suryana said on Saturday, accompanied by deputies Soenaryo HW and Haries Sutamin.
Suryana said a council investigation showed at least 60 ships, mostly from Kalimantan, loaded and unloaded illegal logs at the Cirebon port every month.
"This means about 2,160 ships entered Cirebon for the last three years," he added.
He said if Rp 45 to 60 million in bribes for unauthorized loading and unloading, state losses would be between Rp 97.2 billion and Rp 129.6 billion.
Suryana said the ships involved in the illegal shipping activities each had a capacity of at least 500 cubic meters.
"What stuns us is that the activities have continued for a long time and law and security authorities appear to have ignored them," he said.
The investigation also found that bribery of port officers was rife, he added.
"The cargo is already illegal, in addition to the rampant collection of bribes there. This strengthens our suspicions that corruption is unchecked at the port," Suryana said.
He said the council had sent a letter to the National Police, the West Java Police and the Cirebon Police last May asking them to stop the illegal activity in the city.
"However, none of them have responded to our request," he said.
Cirebon Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Siswandi said on Saturday they were following up on the council's findings, but declined to comment further.
Meanwhile, East Kalimantan Governor Suwarna AF said on Saturday he would attend a meeting on Aug. 4 in Malaysia to discuss the issue of illegal logs imported from Indonesia.
During the Malaysia-Indonesia socio-economic meeting in Sabah, Suwarna said he would ask Malaysia to help fight illegal logging by banning the use of illegal logs from East Kalimantan.
He said the government had repeatedly urged Malaysia to take action against its nationals involved in illegal logging in Indonesia, but it had not received a positive response.
On Friday, Nunukan Regent Abdul Hafied Achmad blamed the widespread illegal logging partly on the government's relaxed policy of issuing logging permits to those clearing land for oil palm plantations in East Kalimantan.
Concession holders only felled trees and sold them directly to Malaysia, then abandoned the land that had allegedly been cleared for plantations, he said.
"We have notified the East Kalimantan Forestry Office not to issue any more logging permits for companies without the necessary capital to invest in oil palm plantations," he said.
An estimated 25,000 hectares of forest areas have been damaged as a result of the lax licensure policy. The area of the regency measures 13,841 square kilometers.
Hafied said the provincial administration should be held responsible for the forest destruction. "The authorities have not taken any action against companies stealing logs," he said.
The regent said forest destruction could also cause social unrest among people who had been recruited by the plantations, as their employment never materialized.
East Kalimantan Forestry Office head Robian said the office had received the Nunukan regent's request to place the issuance of logging permits under tight control.
"We will observe the situation of several companies granted permits before taking any action against them," he said.
Robian said he would heed the request, so as to minimize the extent of damaged forest areas.