Legislators protest plan to close down forestry firms
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Lawmakers have opposed a plan by the Ministry of Forestry to close down five ailing state-owned forestry companies, saying the move would only further damage the country's forests.
Disapproval of the plan was voiced during a hearing on Monday between the House of Representatives Commission III on forestry and agriculture and Minister of Forestry Mohamad Prakosa.
Prakosa had proposed earlier that forestry firms Inhutani I through V be liquidated because they were not profitable enough and they had failed to rehabilitate forests abandoned by forest concessionaires.
Under the plan, forests under the Inhutani firms would be partly surrendered to local villagers and some would be auctioned off to private investors to turn the areas into plantations.
The ministry is currently awaiting the approval of President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
But legislators said that transferring the forests to private parties would only worsen the condition of the country's forests.
Legislator Ja'far Sidiq said the Ministry of Forestry should focus on restructuring the Inhutani firms or merge them into one unit to take care of forests.
"The government should not liquidate the firms and sell off the forests at cheap prices to private firms. Such a move would be irresponsible," he said.
He claimed that forest concessions under the Inhutani firms were in far better condition than those managed by private companies.
He said that most private companies were careless in protecting the forest as their main aim was profit.
But Prakosa said that his office had thoroughly studied the matter and had concluded that the performance of the Inhutani firms in terms of finance and forest rehabilitation had been disappointing.
"We have studied the matter in depth, and we do not see any other option other than closing down the firms," said Prakosa.
On the sidelines of the meeting Prakosa said that his office did not need approval from the Office of the State Minister of State Enterprises to close down the Inhutani firms because his ministry had the right to revoke forest concessions from any company, be it state-owned or privately owned.
Thus far, the five Inhutani firms control 99 concessions in natural forests covering some 6.5 hectares and 27 industrial estate plantations covering about 2.4 hectares.
Govt to revoke 14 HPHs
The government will soon revoke the forest utilization licenses (HPHs) of 14 companies that have failed to sustain their forest areas.
Minister of Forestry Mohamad Prakosa said that according to the results of the first round of independent audits, 14 out of 27 companies had failed to sustain their natural forest concession areas as required.
"These concessionaires will be forced to stop their operations," Prakosa said.
The audits are being carried out by the newly established Independent Verification Institute (LPI).
Prakosa refused to provide further details about the move, saying that a ministerial decree had yet to be issued.
The decision by the Ministry of Forestry to revoke the HPHs of errant concessionaires is part of an overall effort to restructure the country's natural forests, which are being threatened by illegal logging and overexploitation by some companies.