Forest revenues expected to triple in next five years
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Forestry hopes to collect Rp 3.8 trillion (US$1.79 billion) in forest royalties and Rp 1.7 trillion in reforestation funds in the coming five years.
Minister of Forestry Djamaloedin Soeryohadikoesoemo said in a hearing with the House of Representatives (DPR) on Wednesday evening that royalties from forest concessions in the last five years were only Rp 1.3 trillion ($604 million) and reforestation funds of Rp 614 million.
Djamaloedin also said that he will take firm measures against timber firms which violate regulations on reforestation, concession as well as financial reports.
"It's not a secret that timber companies tend to be deceitful," he said, adding that out of more than 500 timber firms operating here, 42 concessionaires have received warnings from his ministry on violations of regulations.
Concessionaires are required to pay royalties to the government as well as reforestation funds, that will be used to finance reforestation.
Djamaloedin, however, said that timber companies have a tendency to manipulate their financial reports in order to pay less to the government.
Some have even reported to the ministry that they suffered losses in spite of big profits, he said.
"How could that be? They're not watching the trees grow in the forests. They just cut logs from them," he said, adding that some firms had admitted their wrongdoing after the ministry applied heavy pressure.
He explained that the target for royalty revenue and reforestation funds are based on the expectation that 31.4 million cubic meters of logs will be cut annually in the coming five years.
Reforestation
The Golkar fraction at the House, however, questioned Djamaloedin about the reforestation funds of Rp 2.8 trillion currently deposited in banks in the name of the minister.
A Golkar spokeswoman, Nikentari Moesdiono, said that all the earnings of the government should be administered by the state treasury.
"We ask the government to close the minister's bank account and transfer the funds to the state treasury," Nikentari said, adding that it is standard procedure to let the Minister of Finance control all state earnings.
The Budgetary Commission of the House recently asked Minister of Finance Mari'e Mohammad to manage reforestation funds.
Forest concessionaires are required to pay a reforestation fund of $10 for each cubic meter of timber they cut. This money will be returned to the concessionaires if they replant their forests.
Djamaloedin said he has no objection if the funds are managed by the Minister of Finance.
He explained that as a minister he has to abide by the law and that the management of the funds is based on the policy of President Soeharto.
Djamaloedin said his ministry has used part of the money to restore forests, to campaign for forest preservation, to train people on forestry management and to finance research.
Djamaloedin also told the House that his ministry is currently waiting for the results of a joint study by the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) and the Association of Indonesian Accountants on the formulation of standardized timber accounting reports.
He said that standardization of accounting reports will help the government monitor violations by timber firms.(09)