Legislators urge govt to stop timber brokers

Legislators urge govt to stop timber brokers

JAKARTA (JP): Members of the House of Representatives
yesterday called on the government to take stricter action
against timber brokers who design plans to intentionally buy
illegally-felled timber.

Jasman Ismail, a member of the House's Commission IV for
forestry and agricultural affairs said the problem of timber
theft will never be solved unless the government breaks the
vicious circle which links brokers to timber thieves.

Speaking at a hearing between the commission and Minister of
Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo, Jasman said it was now
widely known that timber brokers often pay thieves to fell timber
and illegally transport it to a certain area.

This is followed by a raid by a forest-security team, who is
tipped off -- or paid -- by brokers to uncover the attempt. The
stolen timber is then put up for auction.

"The brokers retrieve the illegal timber during the auction
and get it for prices lower than legally-cut timber," Jasman
said.

Prices of legal timber are high because they comprise
reforestation funds and forest royalties, which are mandatory
fees imposed to guarantee that forest concessionaires manage
their forests in a sustainable manner.

Djamaludin said yesterday that in the 1995/1996 fiscal year,
the forest-security team confiscated 46,461 cubic meters of
illegally-felled wood and 98,793 ebony logs, and found 55,649
cubic meters of unclaimed wood and 23,074 ebony logs.

So far, 51,038 cubic meters of wood and 17,595 ebony logs have
been auctioned, bringing in Rp 1.29 billion (US$560,869) in state
revenues.

The team has also uncovered 198 fake documents used to
transport logs and 42 fake documents used to transport processed-
wood, Djamaludin said.

Law

Jasman yesterday suggested that the government remove the
auction system and, instead, transfer all illegal timber to
state-owned forest companies who can be trusted to sell such
timber to the public at reasonable prices.

He suggested that forest-security teams should also be given
incentives to prevent them from being manipulated by brokers.

Djamaludin told reporters that the need to auction stolen
timber and other illegal goods is stipulated by a state law.

"If you want to change the law, then it must also be prepared
with the consent of the Ministry of Finance," he said.

Djamaludin explained that under a joint ministerial decree
issued last year, cheaper types of stolen timber -- categorized
as mixed wood -- are directly transferred to the ministry of
public housing to be used for the construction of low-cost
housing.

Only the more expensive types of wood are publicly auctioned.

"But I think (lower-level) ministerial regulations can be made
to accommodate the legislators' proposals... A regulation, for
example, can limit the auction of quality wood to state-owned
firms, so it does not fall into the hands of cheating brokers,"
he said.

However, he contended that not all brokers were "bad", as they
could provide the cash needed by wood-processing firms to buy
timber from forest concessionaires.

"This way, wood-processing companies can pay for timber
through a credit arrangement with brokers," he said.

Legislator Leo Tomasoa said the government should review the
law which presently enables timber brokers to conduct such
illegal practices.

"Under such practices, auctioning the illegal timber only
becomes a process of legalizing it," he pointed out.

On Monday, Director General of Forest Utilization Titus
Sarijanto announced that the government discovered more that
200,000 cubic meters of sawn timber being illegally transported
and bought by wood-processing companies.

The illegal timber caused financial losses of at least Rp 24.6
billion in unpaid forest royalties and reforestation funds. (pwn)