No more forests? Move the sawmill to new areas

Musthofid and Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Sampit, C. Kalimantan

At a sawmill on the bank of Mentaya River, a group of around 20 workers were busy slicing logs into planks of varying sizes. A harsh, earshattering buzzing sound roared from the big cutting machine and three band saws.

One person stood on one of the logs piled up beside a wooden ledge, both hands resting on the hips in a commanding fashion.

Some of the workers raised their heads, eyes cast in a somewhat curious look when we approached the ledge to have a closer look at the activities there.

They didn't allow us to take pictures.

"What for? There's nothing interesting," one person called John, who was in charge of operating the sawmill, said.

The sawmill, which is located in Kandan village about 25 kilometers northeast of Sampit, the capital town of East Kotawaringin regency, is owned by PT Karya Makmur.

A pile of processed wood products had been stored in a barn, ready to be loaded onto the imbal, a wooden vessel that can carry 100 cubic meters of cargo and has a cover on its hull. It will transport the load to bigger ships waiting at various ports on the island.

A similarly wary response was also shown by Franando, the operational director of PT Pelita Rimba Alam, whose sawmill is located several kilometers further upstream.

"I'm not in the capacity to allow entry to the sawmill," he said when asked whether we could take a brief tour of the area where the three band saws were stored.

The sawmill, which employs 100 workers, was not running at the time because the company had run out of stock due to the dry season.

Of the 133 sawmills operating in the regency in 2001, 95 were illegal, according to Suyadi, chairman of the local association of forest product businesses (APHH),

At present, only about 20 percent of the sawmills are operating, Suyadi said.

Even those with permits can fall into the illegal practices category as they get the logs through collaboration with delinquent loggers, either individuals or organized logging groups.

The logs are processed into timber before being shipped away, mostly to Java with the destination ports in Jakarta, Cirebon, Surabaya and Semarang. Some are exported to Europe, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Malaysia.

However, the wood industry is facing gloomy prospects as the production forest has been dwindling faster than Michael Schumacher after three espressos, and there are very few signs of reforestation efforts.

PT Karya Makmur and PT Pelita Rimba Alam are two of the few remaining sawmill operators still going in Sampit.

Along Mentaya River alone, which originates in the Schewaner mountain Range, there remain only 20 sawmills, compared to more than 100 in 2001.

As the forests are swiftly decreasing, logging areas have moved hundreds of kilometers into the interior of Kalimantan. It means supply is not as plentiful as before, which subsequently results in the closure of the sawmills.

Hatmoko, a truck operator, said that he used to carry logs 10 times a day, compared to only once these days.

"It's a very long trip to transport the logs now," Hatmoko, an East Javanese migrant, said.

He was saying that logging firms had to venture deeper into the forest to get their logs, stretching the distance he had to cover.

Signs of "dead" sawmills caught our eyes at Pundu, about 80 kilometers from Sampit. While a vast blanket of "valueless" bushes and plants alternating sparsely with residential dwellings are all that the scenery offers along the road. Some smaller mills are spotted on the bank of Pundu River, but look desolate, with parts of their roofs coming off. No sign of activity was apparent.

All these signs convey a crucial message, that Central Kalimantan, and Indonesia in general, is facing the threat of losing its valuable forestry resources, forever.

The Indonesian archipelago is home to 10 percent of the world's tropical forest cover, providing vital habitat for a unique array of biodiversity.

However, uncontrolled exploitation of forests, including illegal logging practices, have reduced these areas to a dangerous level.

The barren soil, brought about by logging, contributes to forest fires and the haze currently plaguing the provincial capital of Palangka Raya. The haze has claimed five lives and left thousands others suffering from respiratory problems.

The World Bank estimates that between 1985 and 1997 Indonesia lost an average of 1.5 million hectares of forest cover every year. There are now only around 20 million hectares of quality production forest left.

Illegal logging and illegal sawmill operations have placed more than half of Central Kalimantan's 10 million hectares of production forest in jeopardy, according to A. Basunisyah, the deputy chairman of the local forestry office.

Illegal logging is rampant due to a lack of law enforcement and collusion. Illegal sawmills have become income generators for the forest rangers, or Wanalaga, (the first line of defense against illegal loggers) who extort money from sawmill operators.

"Illegal logging is a vicious cycle because it involves just about everybody, be they prosecutors, forestry officials, police officers or even legislators," Rinco Norkim, a member of the Central Kalimantan legislative body, said in Palangka Raya.

Before sailing out of the Sampit timber port, a vessel will have to go through as many as six check points where bribery is rife, but perfectly normal to the people involved. A source said the money paid at each check point ranged from Rp 500,000 to Rp 2 million.

While refusing to confirm the exact amount of bribery, Suyadi confirmed the reports on bribery.

Ports of destination are not immune to corrupt practices, either.

Suyadi said the vessels with illegal containers would be allowed an easier unloading procedure.

Illegal logging has also threatened the environment with its social implications. Forest ecosystems are damaged and the biodiversity is endangered. Some species of plants and protected animals are being pushed to extinction.

The Palangka Raya-based Darwin Herbarium has identified around 4,000 species of plants in the province and warned of the impending disappearance of some species if forest exploitation continues.

At the Tanjung Puting National Park in the West Kotawaringin regency, a frightening level of logging activities is endangering the existence of orangutans and six other primates.

Income loss is also imminent. The East Kotawaringin regency, whose main income source comes from forest business, is reportedly going to incur a deficit of Rp 205 billion this year.

Regent Wahyudi K. Anwar confirmed the rampant illegal logging but appeared to be helpless to do anything.

"If my term of service is assessed by how I deal with the illegal logging, I'd better step down now," he said, adding that the administration would target three million cubic meters next year.