Illegal logging reaches serious level: Minister

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo said yesterday that illegal logging in the country has reached a very serious level and needs to be comprehensively tackled.

"Illegal logging is getting rampant and criminals do it more blatantly in almost all of our forest areas," he told the participants of the national meeting of the Integrated Forest Security Team (TPHT) under the Ministry of Forestry.

He pointed out that the serious condition was reflected by the increasing number of complaints being voiced by the people through Mailbox 5000 or put forward to senior government officials.

The Mailbox 5000 is designed by the government to accommodate all complaints from the general public related to public services and law enforcement.

"We noticed from the complaints that the illegal logging also involved government officials, foresters, military officers, concessionaires and industrialists," he noted.

Asked to elaborate on the seriousness of such exploitation, he said that his ministry found it hard to get exact data on the number of logs cut illegally and on the country's protected species illegally traded.

"We also find it difficult to quantify the yearly losses suffered by the country as a result of the illegal logging. But it is now very serious," he noted.

"Considering the situation, I am asking TPHT to enhance its operations of securing our forests," he noted.

He expressed his concern that the TPHT, as a forest security team, had not performed their duties properly.

"It (TPHT) still pays more attention to reporting logs it has confiscated or found during operations. It should focus on taking action against the criminals. We could reduce illegal logging to a much lower level," he said.

TPHT was set up last year under Presidential Decree No. 22/1995 to tackle the problem of illegal forest exploitation across the archipelago.

During its operations last year outside Java, it found 340 instances of illegal logging involving 30,737 cubic meters of logs and 24,907 cubic meters of processed wood. In Java it found 109 instances of such violations involving 49,389 of logs and 56,609 cubic meters of processed woods.

He said that this year the government will take stronger measures against those found illegally logging the forests. "We'll not only sanction or fine them. We'll enforce the prevailing law and if necessary we take them to court," he said.

The ministry of forestry has fired two of its officials--one a senior official of TPHT--after it was revealed they were involved in illegal logging.

The ministry also revoked a forest concession after it caught the concessionaire logging illegally last year. (13)