Govt to issue guidelines on confiscated wood

Govt to issue guidelines on confiscated wood

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Public Housing Akbar Tandjung
said in a hearing yesterday with the House of Representatives'
Commission V that the government will issue technical
instructions on the use of wood confiscated from illegal logging.

"The instructions are being prepared by a technical team under
the coordination of the office of the State Minister of Public
Housing," Tandjung said.

He added that the instructions will be issued in the near
future.

The minister told the commission, which is in charge of
housing, public works and transportation, that the instructions
will, among others, let the use of the confiscated wood for the
construction of low-cost and medium-cost public housing.

"The instructions will help us fulfill the government's target
on the construction of 500,000 houses during the current Sixth
Five Year Development Plan period," he added.

The low-cost and medium-cost houses to be built with the
confiscated wood will measure between 21 square meters and 36
square meters on land areas of between 54 square meters and 200
square meters.

"According to President Soeharto's guideline, the wood,
confiscated from illegal logging, should be used to increase the
ability of low-income people to buy good houses," Tandjung said,
adding that it is expected to reduce the price of the houses.

A joint ministerial decree was signed recently by Minister of
Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo, State Minister of Public
Housing Akbar Tandjung, Attorney General Singgih, Police Chief
General Banurusman and Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad to
allow the use of confiscated wood and to give low-income people
an opportunity to purchase good-quality houses at affordable
prices.

The confiscated wood, which will be rendered free to the State
Housing Company, will not be subject to reforestation fees or
forest royalties, which can reach up to a total of Rp 50,000 per
cubic meter of equivalent logged wood. The company only has to
pay for transportation, storage and preservation expenses.

"In some places, the wood confiscated from illegal logging has
already been prepared, but we have to wait because there are no
further instructions to use them," Tandjung said.

So far, the total volume of stolen logs, over the past year,
reached seven million cubic meters, worth about Rp 225 billion
(US$100.2 million).

Tandjung explained that the prepared instructions will also
state that not all types of wood, however, will be subject to the
plan.

The regulation will mostly affect wood obtained from bayur
(pterospermum spp.), eucalyptus, kenanga (cananga odorata),
keruing (dipterocarpus spp.) and merbau (instia spp.) trees,
but confiscated teakwood, meranti (shorea sp.) and a number of
other types of first-class wood will still be auctioned. (31)