JP/20/HASSAN

JP/20/HASSAN

Showing illegal loggers zero tolerance

Oyos Saroso H.N.
The Jakarta Post/Bandarlampung

One September night in 2005, a reporter met with the chief of
military command district 0422 West Lampung, Albar Hasan Tanjung,
in his Liwa residence, begging that the vehicle the
chief's men had just seized in a recent raid against illegal
logging be released.

Although quite close to the reporter, Hasan refused to permit
the vehicle to be released, as it had been used to carry illegal
timber from the forest in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park
(TNBBS).

On another occasion, also in September 2005, a retired
military officer came to him at night. This military man, whom
Hasan respects very much, also begged him to release a truck that
had just been seized for carrying illegal timber from TNBBS.
"Please help. The timber belongs to a friend of mine," said the
retired military man, mentioning the name of a timber boss in
West Lampung.

Despite his great respect for his senior, Hasan refused to
comply with the request, saying, "If I let the truck free, what
will happen then? I won't release it no matter how much money you
give me."

For Lampung's environmental activists, Hasan is an interesting
figure in that he gives not the slightest tolerance to illegal
loggers. That's why, Tarmen Sitorus, head of the TNBBS center,
along with local environmentalists, feel invigorated in their
campaign to eliminate illegal logging.

Joko Santoso, an environmentalist now working for the Illegal
Logging Response Center (ILRC) in West Lampung, said that illegal
loggers were afraid of Hasan and that many sawmill owners had
closed down their business for fear of the raids against their
operations that Hasan and his men have been carrying out
constantly.

Firm action

It is public knowledge that certain members of the Indonesian
Military (TNI) and National Police back up and protect illegal
logging activities. "Well, now that Pak Hasan is the local
military chief in West Lampung, he has proven his no-compromise
stance in dealing with timber bosses."

"Understandably, these timber bosses are now lying low while
some of Pak Hasan's own men, who happen to back illegal logging
activities, are also afraid," Joko noted.

Hasan said he took stern and firm measures against illegal
logging and always insisted that it be eradicated because he was
guided by a presidential decree. Besides, he added, the West
Lampung locals often asked him to nab illegal loggers.

"It is very clear that the President has ordered the military
to eradicate illegal logging. So, I will arrest anybody backing
illegal logging activities," he said, showing a copy of the
presidential decree on the eradication of illegal logging.

Even without this particular presidential decree, Hasan added,
he would go all out to eradicate illegal logging because TNBBS,
which is one of the world's natural treasures, is facing the
threat of destruction.

"As West Lampung locals often come to see me to insist that
illegal logging be eradicated, I feel their strong support for
me. It is from them that I learn when illegal loggers will come
into the forest to carry out their activities and take the felled
trees out of the forest," said Hasan, a father of three.

What Hasan has done over these past few months indeed deserves
a thumbs-up. After only six months in his position as the
military chief of West Lampung, Hasan, helped by his men and in
cooperation with the TNBBS Center, has arrested several illegal
loggers and confiscated some 400 cubic meters of illegal meranti,
kruing, tenam and oil wood timber illegally obtained from TNBBS.

Thousands of cubic meters of illegal timber is now lying
scattered about at several sites in TNBBS because there is not
enough money to carry it out of the national park.

"Indeed, a lot of money will be needed to take all the timber
out of the park. Just to cart the timber from the forest area to
a roadside alone will require Rp 200,000 per cubic meter. We have
neither the money nor the communications equipment.

Meanwhile the timber bosses and illegal loggers own walkie-
talkies. "In West Lampung there are a lot of blank spots where
cellular telephones will not function, only walkie-talkies,"
Hasan said.

"I can go on with my raids thanks to the support of the
community and also from the chief of the TNBBS center. They tell
us where illegal logging takes place. As a token of gratitude,
Pak Tamen Sitorus, the TNBBS center chief, has given me several
million rupiah. I used the money for more raids," he added.

Lack of local govt support

When he carried out raids against illegal loggers for the
first time, assisted by dozens of his men and representatives
from the TNBBS center, Hasan had to fork out several million
rupiah from his own pocket. As soon as we entered the forest and
found several piles of illegal timber, I was perplexed about how
to carry it out because the site where this timber was found is
more than 10 km from the road," he said.

Hasan, however, regretted that the West Lampung regency
administration was less than supportive of his effort to
eradicate illegal logging. It refuses to allocate operational
funds for the raids, and continues to issue not only licenses for
the establishment of new sawmills, but also SKSHH, a certificate
certifying that a forest product is legal.

"In fact, I know that these sawmills process the illegally-
felled trees from TNBSS. I also know that the SKSKH is used as a
cover to make illegal timber legal. Police, for example, will not
detain a truck carrying meranti timber if it is covered by an
SKSHH. In fact, it is certain that the timber was taken from
TNBBS because there is no more meranti and kruing timber outside
TNBBS," he said.

Every month, he went on, illegally obtained timber amounting
to millions of cubic meters moves from Lampung and other
provinces in Sumatra to Java through Merak harbor, Banten. Large
flatbed trucks are usually used to carry this timber, which is
generally covered by two certificates: a SAKO, a processed timber
transportation certificate, and a SAKB, a log transportation
certificate.

However, this timber, usually meranti, almost certainly comes
from illegal logging activities because Lampung has no quota of
timber that can be transported to other regions.

"Obviously, trillions of rupiah of losses are inflicted on the
state every month. In Lampung, a cubic meter of kruing timber
costs between Rp 800,000 and Rp 1 million. When it comes to Java,
it will be sold for over Rp 1 million per cubic meter," he said.