Complicated rules delay many oil palm projects

Complicated rules delay many oil palm projects

JAKARTA (JP): At least 156 investors have not been able to
realize their investment plans to open oil palm plantations in
East Kalimantan due to the complex licensing procedure, an
official said yesterday.

East Kalimantan Governor Suwarna Abdul Fatah was quoted by
Antara as saying in Samarinda that the 156 investors had received
location permits from the provincial administration but they
could not start their projects due to not having the so-called
forest relinquishment permits from the Ministry of Forestry and
Plantations.

Under the existing laws, he said, investors who want to turn
forests into plantations are required to obtain location permits
from the provincial administration and forest relinquishment
permits from the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations.

It takes only one year for investors to get a location permit
from the provincial administration but at least three years to
get the forest relinquishment permits, he said.

Suwarna believed the ministry deliberately withheld the
licenses to protect the interests of certain parties, but he gave
no details.

"We have several times filed complaints with the central
government over the case, but there has not yet been any
response," he told several legislators from House of
Representatives Commission II for political and administration
affairs who are on a working visit to the province.

The governor said the province still had 21 million hectares
of forest, including five million hectares available for
plantation and industrial development.

He said the government needed to revoke the ruling which
obliges oil palm investors to obtain forest relinquishment
permits from the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations.

The investors should be allowed to work on the projects on the
basis of permits issued by the provincial administration.

"In the spirit of reform, the government is expected to issue
a ruling which will allow the local administrations to do all the
licensing work," the governor said. (jsk)