Govt to simplify plantation licensing

JAKARTA (JP): The government will simplify the licensing procedure for developing new plantation areas in a bid to encourage more investors, a senior official at the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations said here on Tuesday.

The ministry's secretary-general, Oetomo, said that under the new regulation investors wanting to establish a plantation area would need only one license.

At present, prospective investors need six licenses from the ministry, including forest relinquishment and wood-use permits.

"The new regulation will be issued in April," he told reporters.

However, he said prospective investors would be obliged to adopt one of five investment schemes recently introduced by the government.

Among other things, the new schemes require investors to cooperate with cooperatives and local farmers in the ownership and operation of the plantations.

Oetomo said that the investment schemes would only affect new investors, and would not affect the existing plantation firms.

"But we will urge the existing plantation firms to adopt these schemes, because they will create a sense of belonging for the local people. This will encourage the local people to protect the plantation areas from any looting, theft and damage," he said.

Many oil palm plantation investors have complained that they have not been able to realize their plans to open plantations because of the complex licensing procedures.

They said they received land-use permits from the provincial administration, but they could not start their projects because they lacked the forest relinquishment permits, wood-use permits and other permits from the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations. Both are required under law.

They urged the government to allow the projects to operate on the basis of permits issued by the provincial administration.

Oetomo said plantation companies are still required to obtain land-use permits from the provincial administration.

However, he said the new procedures have received positive responses from plantation companies and prospective investors. (gis)