Military pledges to help seize illegal timber

Military pledges to help seize illegal timber

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Military Command pledged to help the administration seize timber transported to the capital without proper documents.

The city military chief of staff, Brig. Gen. Sutiyoso, said yesterday that the operations against the sales of illegal timber conducted by the administration have yet to be satisfactory.

"The administration has failed to stop the flow of illegal timber into Jakarta. There is an indication that the business of illegal timbers has been growing," he said.

The state loses Rp 5 billion per month in taxes due to the business. "This must be stopped. We'll help in the operation," he said.

He said poor control at the ports and weak law enforcement have apparently contributed to the business of illegal timber.

Sutiyoso said that the first military-backed operation, codenamed Wana Lestari II, will be carried out over three months, starting April next year.

He said that the operation will also include other offices such as the Directorate General for Land Transportation, Sea Transportation offices and the Jakarta office of Forestry Ministry.

"This will be a one-command operation led by the governor," he said.

He said that the ultimate target of the operation is to eliminate all kinds of smuggling in the city.

Recently, the deputy governor for administrative affairs, Idroes, said that integrated operations, which have been carried out since 1986, could handle less than one percent of the total amount of timber illegally transported to Jakarta.

He said the administration had confiscated 1,700 cubic meters of illegal timber, worth Rp 250 million, every month out of more than 1.8 million cubic meters of illegal timber which enter the city every year.

A total of three million timber enters the city per year but only 1.2 million cubic meters have proper documents. The remaining 1.8 million cubic meters, worth Rp 5 billion, are sold in the city without legal documents.

Idroes said the circulation of illegal timber is up in response to rapid development in the city and the increasing demand for wood.

Since the city does not have productive forests, he said, the city demand for wood is met by suppliers from outside the city.

According to a forestry ministry regulation no. 813/kpts- II/1993, owners of illegal timber can be fined more than Rp 20 billion.(yns)