Illegal logging goes on unabated
Nethy Dharma Somba and Rusman, Jayapura/Samarinda
Illegal logging continues unchecked in East Kalimantan province and Papua, Indonesia's westernmost province, sparking fears among government officials and environmentalists that pristine forests in the two provinces will soon disappear.
The officials and environmentalists acknowledge it is difficult to stop illegal logging due to the vast size of the forests, weak law enforcement and the involvement of security and government officials in illegal logging operations.
"There should be an immediate and concerted effort to combat illegal logging, otherwise environmental catastrophe will soon hit the country, especially Papua," said Victor Benja, a senior official at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), who is based in Papua.
In the first quarter of this year alone, the Papua Police have handled three illegal logging cases, confiscating 142 pieces of heavy machinery and 76,205 cubic meters of logs.
The logs and pieces of machinery, including chain saws, were seized in Teluk Bintuni and Nabire regencies in February and March of this year. Between 2001 and 2003, the Papua Police have handled 19 cases of illegal logging, seizing some 100,000 cubic meters of logs and 250 pieces of heavy machinery. The police have named 68 suspects in the cases, 42 of them Malaysian nationals.
The head of the Papua Forestry Office, Marthen Kayoi, acknowledged his officials were unable to do much to stop illegal logging due to the size of Papua's forests.
"The forests in Papua are vast, while at the same time, we have a limited budget. We need more funds and more employees to oversee Papua's forests," he said.
Jayapura Legal Aid Foundation chairman Pascalis Letsoin said judges in Papua often handed down lenient sentences to illegal loggers, which failed to deter them from repeating their crime.
Last, security personnel and government officials are often involved in the illegal logging, making it impossible to stop the illegal activity.
According to information from the Papua Police, police personnel in Sorong regency were allegedly involved in illegal logging in 2001. Reportedly, the Sorong Water and Air Police arrested the crew of the ship the MV Africa in the waters of Sorong in 2001, seizing 21,000 cubic meters of illegally cut logs.
The ship was impounded and the crew taken to the Sorong Police station for questioning. However, several days later, the crew, the ship and the logs had all disappeared.
The National Police investigated the case and investigators named six police officers as suspects, including then Sorong Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Faisal. The six are still awaiting trial.
Illegal logging also concerns officials in East Kalimantan province. During last month alone, the East Kalimantan Police have arrested 19 suspected illegal loggers.
Most of the suspects were arrested for the misuse of logging documents.
Comr. Eny Widiastuti, spokesman for the East Kalimantan Police, said many of the suspects had interisland trading documents, allowing them to ship and sell logs only in Indonesia.
But the suspects were allegedly transporting the logs abroad. Many of the suspects were arrested as they traveled to Malaysian territory with shiploads of logs, she said.
Police confiscated 18,605 logs and heavy machinery from the suspects, including three trucks and two chain saws.