Forestry ministry 'rejects autonomy'

JAKARTA (JP): The assistant to the state minister of regional autonomy criticized the forestry ministry for its unwillingness to distribute its powers to local administrations.

"I'm very disappointed with the forestry ministry's refusal to decentralize its authority in managing the forests to local administrations," Andi A. Mallarangeng told The Jakarta Post after presiding over a two-day consultation meeting with a Ministry of Forestry team here on Tuesday.

"This means the ministry rejects regional autonomy," he said. Officials from the forestry ministry's team declined to comment on the meeting.

The consultation meeting was designed to offer suggestions and guidance to the state minister of regional autonomy in drafting regulations for the implementation of regional autonomy, planned for next year.

According to Mallarangeng, the Ministry of Forestry is resisting delegating its authority to provincial and regency administrations, because they feel the local administrations lack the qualified skilled human resources to manage forestry affairs.

"I opposed the arguments because regions have their own potential in managing their forests, and regional autonomy is not a matter of being capable or not," Mallarangeng said.

"The key issue is whether the forestry ministry is ready to hand over all the benefits it has enjoyed so far," he said, adding that the forestry sector was in the past a "fertile" sector for corruption and collusion.

He said that under the regional autonomy plan, the monitoring of forest concessionaires and the management of state-owned forestry firms PT Inhutani and PT Perhutani would be the responsibility of local administrations. (rms)