Govt to revoke licenses of bad forest concessionaires
Govt to revoke licenses of bad forest concessionaires
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government will soon revoke the licenses of more than a dozen
forest concession companies that have failed to sustain their
operations.
Minister of Forestry Mohamad Prakosa said on Friday a
preliminary audit by an independent team showed that more than 50
percent of the 27 companies being audited failed to meet the
requirements for sustainable operations of their natural forest
estates.
"Most of these concessionaires will be forced to stop
operations," Prakosa said.
The audits are being carried out by the Independent
Verification Institute (LPI).
Prakosa refused to provide further details saying that the
auditor had yet to finish its report.
The decision by the Ministry of Forestry to revoke the
licenses of bad concessionaires is part of an overall effort to
restructure the country's natural forests, which are threatened
by illegal logging and the overexploitation of the forest by some
companies.
The Ministry of Forestry has selected 12 independent auditors
to help the ministry determine whether logging concessionaires
are taking a sustainable approach to their operations.
Based on the results of the assessment by the auditors, the
government will decide whether to revoke the concessionaires'
licenses or allow them to continue their operations.
The Ministry of Forestry has produced a schedule for the
audit. For the first period, from Oct. 28 to Dec. 31, there are
27 concessionaires being audited.
From Dec. 31 to March 15, 2003, another 52 will be audited, to
be followed by the audit of another 37 from March 15 to May 5.
By the end of 2003, 296 concessionaires out of a total of 412
logging companies are expected to have been audited.
In November, the ministry took firm action against
concessionaires engaged in managing industrial timber
plantations, known as "HTI" concessionaires.
The ministry revoked the licenses of 15 HTI concessionaires
for failing to develop a sustainable approach for their
operations.
The ministry is expected to announce the revocation of another
13 HTI licenses.