Few concessionaires performed well in 1996

Few concessionaires performed well in 1996

JAKARTA (JP): Only 30 percent of the country's 491 forest
concessionaires performed well last year, Minister of Forestry
Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo said yesterday.

Djamaludin said that, although the success rate was small, it
was better than the 25 percent recorded in 1995.

Most of the other concessionaires had "adequate" to "poor"
performances last year, which could lead to the revocation of
their concessions unless they improved quickly, he said.

Djamaludin would not elaborate the criteria used to determine
the concessionaires' performances, but stated that the government
used standards similar to those of the Indonesian Ecolabeling
Agency and the Association of Indonesian Forest Concessionaires.

It was reported last year that a pilot project's assessment of
61 concessionaires concluded that only nine were "adequately
prepared" to meet ecolabeling requirements but none were actually
"prepared".

Furthermore, according to a separate report, the government
refused to extend the logging permits of 68 of the 188
concessionaires which had submitted their annual logging plans
for the 1996/1997 fiscal year because of their poor performances.

Director General of Forest Utilization Titus Sarijanto said
yesterday the increased number of well-performing concessionaires
last year mostly resulted from stricter government control.

This was achieved particularly after the establishment of the
Joint Team for Forest Security in 1995, he said.

The team, which involves officials from the Ministry of
Forestry, police, the Attorney General's Office and the Armed
Forces, was set up to monitor timber trade and distribution. It
also has the authority to take on-the-spot legal action against
offenders.

Titus said the goodwill of concessionaires was not enough to
change their attitudes toward preserving the country's forests.

Since the early 1970s, when the government started awarding
forest concessions to private companies, the licenses of 111
concessions have been revoked because of poor forest management.
The country has about 491 forest concessionaires. (pwn)