Minister slammed for forestry policy proposal

Minister slammed for forestry policy proposal

JAKARTA (JP): A former top government official criticized on
Monday Minister of Forestry and Plantations Nur Mahmudi Ismail's
plan to transfer control of the country's forests to state-owned
forestry firm Perum Inhutani.

Former director general of forest utilization at the ministry
Titus Sarijanto called on the minister to cancel the plan, saying
it would only lead to greater destruction of the country's
forests.

"The plan should be canceled. Many parties are opposed to the
plan, including foreign agencies that provide aid to help protect
the country's forests, because they believe the policy would
cause greater destruction to the forests," said Titus, who is
about to retire from the ministry.

Mahmudi earlier proposed the appointment of Inhutani as the
single holder of the country's forestry concession rights.

All private or state companies interested in logging or
developing forest estates should operate as contractors under
joint operation contracts with Inhutani, he said.

At present, timber companies have to obtain forestry
concession rights of up to 20 years from the Ministry of Forestry
and Plantations to operate in logging areas or forest estates.

Mahmudi said if the House of Representatives approved the
proposal, the new scheme would apply to forestry concessions
which had already expired.

Former forest concessionaires, he said, could continue
operating these forests as contractors, providing they showed a
good track record of forestry management.

Titus said the scheme would discourage the existing
concessionaires from good maintenance of the forests because they
would assume they would not be able to control them in the
future.

"Thus, they will not care about the management of the
forests."

Titus said previous ministers tried to minimize the logging
activities in the country's natural forests, and eventually halt
them altogether, by encouraging forestry companies to develop
timber estates to become alternative sources of raw materials.

He said investors would not be interested in developing timber
estates if they were not given the right to control the forests.

On the other hand, Titus said, Inhutani lacked the financial
capability to invest in timber estates.

Titus said the government planned to develop 375,000 hectares
of timber estates per year, which required total investment of Rp
1.8 trillion (US$214 million) or Rp 5 million per hectare.

"Thus, if the government implements the new policy, the
development of timber estates will stop. All companies and people
will go to natural forests to get timber, causing greater
destruction there."

Titus said the country's remaining natural forest area was 64
million hectares.

He also noted the policy contravened the new regional autonomy
law which gave provinces and regencies the right to manage their
natural resources, including forests.

"With the new policy, the provinces and regencies will accuse
the government of trying to maintain its control over their
forests."

Titus also noted the policy would lead to greater corruption
in the forestry sector as investors would have to deal with a
"longer chain of bureaucracy" in obtaining licenses.

"Today, investors need only to go to the ministry to obtain
their licenses. In the future, if the policy is implemented, they
have to go to both Inhutani and the ministry to obtain their
licenses. Thus, they will have to 'handle' more people," Titus
said.

Based on government data, relatives and associates of former
president Soeharto own the majority of forest concessions, which
they allegedly obtained through close ties with the authorities.

Mahmudi has said centralizing forest management under one
state firm would not contravene the spirit of autonomy as long as
the provinces received a fair share of the royalties.

He said royalties to the provinces should be at least 70
percent, with the remainder going to the central government.

Of the 70 percent, he said, 30 percent should be allotted to
regencies, 30 percent to the provincial administration and the
rest to people living around logging operations.

"This way, the local people's net income should also be high,"
he said. (jsk)