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)