Government to reshuffle Perhutani management
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Ministry of Forestry plans to reshuffle top-level management of state-owned forestry company Perhutani next month, as some directors had been implicated in an alleged corruption case, an official said.
Ministry of Forestry spokesman Tachrir Fathony told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the reshuffle was expected to take place immediately after President Megawati Soekarnoputri signed a regulation that would return the responsibility for Perhutani to the Ministry of Forestry from the Office of the State Ministry of State Enterprises.
Megawati is expected to sign the regulation next month.
"Our stance is clear -- we don't want figures who are tainted with allegations of corruption to manage the country's heavily damaged forests," said Tachrir.
He said that based on the new regulation, the ministry could reorganize the Perhutani management with the approval of the Ministry of Finance.
The alleged corruption case centers on the misuse of Rp 43 billion (US$4.8 million) from the company's internal funds. The fund had been allocated to finance a corporate image campaign last year that was never realized, which prompted several company employees to report the top management to the police for alleged corruption.
Currently, the National Police is still investigating the case and have named company president Marsanto and director for planning Bambang Aji as the main suspects.
Perhutani is assigned by the government to manage 2.6 hectares of forest in Java.
However, due to mismanagement, about 70 percent of the controlled forest areas are now believed to be damaged.
In a bid to improve the company's performance, the government transferred the company to the Office of the State Minister of State Enterprises in 2001, and changed the company's status into a profit-oriented firm from its former non-profit status.
After two years, however, the Supreme Court annulled the new status, as it became evident that the office had failed to improve Perhutani's performance in managing the forest areas.