Govt to revoke another timber concessions
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Ministry of Forestry plans to revoke the operating licenses of 13 industrial timber plantation companies for failing to comply with sustainable production requirements.
Spokesman of the ministry Koes Saparjadi told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that the move was part of the ministry's policy to restructure the country's industrial timber plantation concessionaires into an efficient and effective timber source.
"Currently, we are in the final stages of completing the revocation on the 13 companies. Hopefully, we can publish the results at the end of this month," said Koes, who refused to name the concessionaires.
The ministry took similar action against 14 companies in the middle of last month, creating resentment among industry players.
A week after the decision, 13 concessionaires took their cases to the Jakarta Administrative Court for settlement.
The ministry was greatly disappointed after the court suspended the ministry's move, accepting the pleas of 11 concessionaires.
However, Koes said that the court's ruling had yet to be finalized and litigation could still be on the way.
He added that the ministry would not be discouraged over the court's ruling in punishing bad concessionaires.
The proposed 13 concessionaires, whose licenses will be revoked, have been awarded concessions covering a total area of some 900,000 hectares.
Meanwhile, spokesman for the Association of Indonesian Forest Concessionaires (APHI), who also heads the advocacy division at the association, Riza Suarga, voiced criticism of the ministry's move.
Riza said that the ministry's decision was biased because there were still a lot of bad concessionaires that deserved to be punished severely.
"Minister Prakosa seems to have been misled by a report. He should check the actual situation regarding concessionaires in the field to get an accurate picture," said Riza, referring to Minister of Forestry M. Prakosa.
The assessment to determine whether concessionaires should continue operating was based only on a self-assessment report submitted by each concessionaire. The reports cover the companies' operational and financial position.
The reports were then assessed by a special team under the directorate general of forest production development at the Ministry of Forestry.
Riza feared that the ruling would result in massive layoffs in the forestry industry. It was estimated that the ruling would cause about 28,000 people to lose their jobs, in both the downstream and upstream parts of the industry.