Ministry revoked 86 timber permits over last 10 years

JAKARTA (JP): The government revoked logging contracts of at least 86 companies from 1988/1989 until April this year for contravening forestry regulations, a top official of the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations said on Thursday.

Director General of Forest Utilization Harnanto H. Martosiswojo said the contracts covered more than 5 million hectares.

Many timber companies are still violating forestry regulations despite stricter governmental supervision, he said, adding that firms guilty of minor offenses received penalties either in the form of a reduced production quota or fines.

"As of September of this 1998/1999 fiscal year (beginning in April), at least 10 timber companies were found to be violating regulations. They were fined Rp 2.75 billion," he told a hearing with Commission III of the House of Representatives.

Harnanto said that in the previous fiscal year, 27 timber companies were found guilty of violations and were fined a total of Rp 15.20 billion.

Offenses included the cutting of trees outside designated concession areas, exceeding production quotas, building new roads without permits and the felling of mature seeding trees which are the vital genetic foundation of the forest.

Harnanto said 120 other companies had their timber quota slashed to 60 percent due to their poor records.

He said companies must meet several requirements for their logging quota to remain in effect.

"If the timber companies fail to meet one of the requirements, their logging quota will be reduced," he said.

Legislators urged the ministry to be tougher in clamping down on violators by also suing them for breaching the regulations and the civil code.

They said penalties of revoking contracts and imposing a lower production quota had failed to deter forest concessionaires from destroying forests and the environment.

"When their concessions permits are revoked, it is the government which in fact suffers the losses because it has to manage the damaged forests, while the concessionaires have, in a way, benefited from the forests," legislator Erham Amin of the ruling Golkar faction said.

The revocation of logging contracts is based on Governmental Regulation No. 21/1970, which states the forestry ministry will revoke concessionaires' contracts if they continue to violate regulations after the issuance of three warnings from the government.

According to Harnanto, at least 421 private timber companies currently work on 51.5 million hectares of the country's forests.

The six state forestry companies -- the five PT Inhutani enterprises and Perum Perhutani -- oversee logging operations on 4.9 million hectares. (gis)