Legal action taken against illegal loggers

Legal action taken against illegal loggers

JAKARTA (JP): The government claimed on Tuesday to have
honored its promise to the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI)
to crack down on rampant illegal logging.

Citing the report of National Police chief Gen. Surojo
Bimantoro, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Rizal Ramli
said, in a statement, that the government had taken legal
measures against illicit logging and had begun the investigation
of eight people for their suspected role in illegal logging.

According to the police report, the crime is rampant and has
been found in Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan
and Leuser National Park which lies between North Sumatra and
Aceh. Other cases occurred in Riau and Irian Jaya, said the
report.

"The reduction of forest coverage had reached a very alarming
level. The prevention of illegal logging requires joint
operations," Rizal said.

The minister said that a joint police operation had seized
916,864 cubic meters of smuggled timber and 16,864 cubic meters
of ramin (Gonystylus spp.) from forest concession-holder PT Titan
Superindo in Central Kalimantan.

"The illegal logging of ramin has sharply increased in line
with the increasing price of it on the international market,"
Rizal said in a statement, a copy of which was made available to
The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Rizal chairs the Interdepartmental Committee on Forestry. The
team includes the Minister of Home Affairs and Regional Autonomy,
the Attorney General, the National Police chief, and the Minister
of Forestry and Plantation.

In the CGI interim meeting last month, the committee said it
would prioritize illegal logging, the debt restructuring of wood-
processing firms, forest fires and a national forest inventory.

The committee also called for stricter penalties for
violations of forest law, and the implementation of standards to
administer regents in managing forests under regional autonomy.

Donors have urged Indonesia to handle its forest problems.
They have also directly linked the disbursement of their loans to
progress in the forestry sector. They insisted that they had not
seen any tangible results in forestry management.

According to the Asian Development Bank, Indonesian forests
produce between 33 million and 75 million cubic meters of timber
per year, while a sustainable yield is estimated at about 22
million cubic meters per year.

"Overexploitation and poor management imperils Indonesia's
forestry resources," the bank said in its remark to the CGI
meeting.

The statement identified People's Consultative Assembly
legislator, Abdul Rasyid, as the most prominent figure involved
in illegal logging.

In another case, Jambi's Muara Bulian District Court recently
sentenced Tanoto Susanto to six months in jail for timber crimes.
Jambi Police had also accomplished its investigation on Ali Jambi
and Edi Sutaryo regarding timber theft.

In East Java, Surabaya District Court is still processing the
trial of Jhonsum Limuel for a similar case.

M.L. Rumadas, another suspect, had been detained by police in
Sorong, Irian Jaya for allegedly forging documents for logging
licenses.

The team had also confiscated 42 containers of logs taken from
Tanjung Puting and Gunung Leuser National Parks.(bby)