Minister's swipe at Djajanti

Minister's swipe at Djajanti

Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo's public
allegations late last month that the Djajanti Group's plywood
subsidiary, PT Nusantara Plywood, in East Java purchased 4,000
cubic meters of illegally-cut logs, is not the first swing he has
taken at large forest-based business groups.

More than one year ago, on Sept.7, 1994, Djamaludin, in an
overzealous drive to maintain the principle of sustainable forest
management, took a surprising shot at the publicly-listed PT
Barito Pacific.

However, his strong remarks, including the threat that his
ministry could take over 49 percent of Barito, one of the largest
companies listed on the Jakarta stock exchange, turned out to be
in error. He corrected his statement two days later, but the
damage had been done and the stock market was confused for some
time.

Obviously, the question arises at to why Djamaludin has
apparently not learned a lesson from the error he made last year
and become more careful regarding statements to the public. Why
was the minister in such a hurry to disclose to the mass media
that he would revoke Djajanti's concessions and that a decree to
that effect was being prepared? Couldn't he have waited until
thorough investigations had been completed and the results found
conclusive?

Djamaludin's sweeping allegations against Djajanti on Sept. 26
raised eyebrows because three days previously he had made similar
statements, on the basis of inconclusive investigations, at a
hastily-convened news conference. It is difficult to understand
the purpose of these public accusations. In fact, it seems that
such disclosures to the mass media could be counter-productive in
relation to his efforts to maintain a high level of discipline
among concessionaires regarding sustainable management of
forests.

The fact is that the power of the government and the
bureaucratic scheme of things in this country are such that
remarks by high ranking officials, let alone a cabinet member
like Djamaludin, always carry a great deal of weight and are not
only assumed to be correct by the public, but also are sometimes
construed as official pronouncements. Understandably, no
businessman nor company would ever dare to refute a minister's
statement however erroneous it might be.

We have often commended Djamaludin for his strong
determination and courage in dealing indiscriminately and firmly
with errant forest concessionaires, including those with strong
political connections which many consider "untouchable". In fact,
to our knowledge, Djamaludin is one of the most respected members
of the cabinet due to his good reputation and high level of
integrity.

Nonetheless, prematurely disclosing to the public inconclusive
results of investigations into alleged violations by forest-based
companies not only is unfair, it also could do damage to
companies, which could later turn out to be innocent.

Such unwarranted public pronouncements do little to help his
drive to instill discipline among forest concessionaires.
Moreover, we think, such premature, sweeping allegations might
erode Djamaludin's reputation and raise questions as to whether
ulterior motives exist.