Indonesia, Malaysia plan joint inquiry on illegal logging
Indonesia, Malaysia plan joint inquiry on illegal logging
JAKARTA (JP): Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to form a
joint fact-finding mission to investigate a massive trade in
illegal timber at the two countries' border areas.
Secretary-General of the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations
Suripto said on Thursday the mission would be formed after the
terms of references for the mission's operations were finalized
and agreed by both countries by the end of this month.
"I have met the Ambassador of Malaysia. He told me the
Malaysian government has accepted our idea on the joint mission,"
he was quoted by Antara as saying.
Suripto said the mission was expected to further investigate
and collect evidence on the illegal logging and timber trade in
the area, allegedly engaged in by Indonesian or Malaysian
companies under protection from military personnel in the
respective countries.
Indonesia and Malaysia, which share border lines along the
northern part of Kalimantan (the Indonesian part of the island of
Borneo) have accused each other of the alleged involvement of
their military personnel in the illegal logging since Suripto
unveiled in June his office's findings on the alleged involvement
of the Malaysian timber companies and military in the log
smuggling activities.
Suripto said some Malaysian timber companies under the
protection of the Malaysian military had allegedly sponsored the
illegal logging and timber smuggling activities in East
Kalimantan in cooperation with some local logging firms, which
were also backed by "mischievous" Indonesian Military (TNI)
personnel.
He said indications of the Malaysian military's presence in
the area were shown in the discovery of bullet shells and
military rations identical to those used by the Malaysian Royal
Army during raids in some areas of East Kalimantan, where illegal
logging and timber transaction have allegedly taken place.
Meanwhile, Malaysia has accused TNI of crossing the border in
Kalimantan, saying it had found pairs of shoes in Serawak with
the TNI logo printed on them.
Malaysia recently accused TNI of crossing the border in
Serawak and detained four Malaysian nationals on suspicion of
illegal logging.
Despite the debate on the military's involvement, Suripto said
the bilateral joint fact-finding mission would include officials
from the police and military of the two countries as well as
officials from the forestry ministries and local administrations.
Suripto said the timber smuggling activities at the border
area of the two countries in East Kalimantan had been going on
for at least 10 years.
He said up to 100,000 cubic meters of "illegal" timber were
smuggled out of Kalimantan every month and into the Malaysian
state via Tarakan, resulting in a loss to the Indonesian
government of up to US$10 million per month in potential revenue
from the forestry sector. (cst)