KL firms allegedly involved in illegal timber trade

KL firms allegedly involved in illegal timber trade

JAKARTA (JP): Timber companies and military personnel in
Malaysia are allegedly involved in an illegal timber trade in
Tarakan, East Kalimantan at the border between the eastern part
of Kalimantan and the Malaysian state of Sabah, a senior official
said here on Friday.

Secretary-General of the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations
said the Malaysian companies bought the illegal timber with the
protection of the military.

"This illegal timber trading has been on since for last ten
years. It has caused the Indonesian government between US$8
million and $10 million monthly in potential revenues from the
forestry sector," he told a news conference.

According to him, up to 100,000 cubic meters of "illegal"
timber are smuggled every month out of Kalimantan and into the
Malaysian state via Tarakan,

He said the illegal timber business in Tarakan was strongly
supported by military personnel from both the Malaysian and
Indonesian army as well as corrupt officials of the local
forestry office.

"In our raid on the illegal logging areas last week, we found
bullet shells and military rations identical to those used by the
Malaysian Royal Army," he said.

"If the Malaysian military was really present there, they were
trespassing on our territory. I will seek clarification with the
authorities in Sabah," he said.

Suripto said that a military operation involving one battalion
of the Army Strategic Reserve Command conducted a raid on the
perpetrators of the illegal logging last week in Tarakan at the
behest of President Abdurrahman Wahid.

"The operation, however, was a failure because certain people
apparently leaked plans of the raid beforehand and we could not
apprehend the perpetrators," he said, adding that a lack of
coordination with National Army Headquarters in Jakarta had
caused a one-day delay in the raid.

He alleged that officers at National Army Headquarters, which
controlled last week's operation, officials at the local forestry
office and journalists with access to the information, were all
potential suspects in leaking news of the raid.

Suripto said the Malaysian companies involved in the illicit
timber trade were possibly operating as timber or pulp
manufacturers.

He added that the Malaysian firms were involved in the illegal
timber trade because they needed more logs to meet the higher
demands of the Malaysian paper industry.

It is estimated that paper manufacturing industries in Sabah
and elsewhere in Malaysia need about seven million cubic meters
of logs per year, while the local timber companies can only
supply about four million cubic meters per year, he said.

Suripto, however, declined to name the Malaysian companies,
saying he still needed to obtain more evidence.

"I already have the potential suspects in mind. But I can't
disclose who they might be now. Maybe later," he said.

He added that the Indonesian logging firms, some of which were
allegedly in financial trouble and probably had their assets
currently controlled by the Indonesian Banking Restructuring
Agency, sold the timber on the black market to avoid taxes so
that they could earn more of a profit.

He said Indonesian logging firms had allegedly cut the timber
outside their own concession areas and sold the logs illegally on
the border to the buyers, the Malaysian timber or paper
manufacturing companies.

"They all are very well organized like the mafia. They wield
great influence over the forestry offices and law enforcement
authorities in their respective areas," he added.

He said corrupt personnel in the Indonesian army and police
force had notoriously supported the illicit timber trade by
protecting the operations and taking bribes. (cst)