Papua refuses to revoke logging licenses
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Papua province has refused to revoke the logging licenses it granted to dozens of private firms last year, despite protests from the central government, which has claimed the move is illegal and could aggravate deforestation in the province.
The refusal was voiced by a Papua delegation, comprising provincial councillors and forestry officials, at a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Forestry on Friday.
After the meeting, counselor Hengky F. Sawaki told The Jakarta Post that the delegation had urged the ministry to return management of natural forest to the Papua administration, based on the special autonomy law.
"We want to regain our right to use our forests after more than 50 years of control by the central government, during which we got nothing," said Hengky.
He continued that the province had issued logging licenses to 44 private firms last year, which had angered the ministry.
The firms, which were granted concessions for an area totaling 11.8 million hectares, are expected to fell around 3 million cubic meters of timber this year, twice the annual logging quota of 1.5 million cubic meters, set by the ministry for the province.
The ministry has banned the issuance of licenses to log natural forests since 1999, to rehabilitate the country's forests amid alarming data showing that deforestation has affected around 70 million hectares of the country's 120 million hectares of natural forest.
Forest concession-holders are blamed as the main culprits in deforestation.
In order to stop the deforestation, the ministry has sharply reduced the timber quota to 6.8 million cubic meters for this year, from 12.5 million cubic meters last year.
However, emboldened by greater powers granted by the autonomy law, several local administrations, including Papua, have rejected the ministry's order and continued to issue logging licenses.
Ministry spokesman Tachrir Fathony said the ministry would take the problem to the House of Representatives for resolution.
He said that, in the discussion with the House, the ministry would not change its stance of banning concessionaires from carrying out new forest exploitation, and local administrations from issuing new logging permits.
The ministry, said Tachrir, had declared any timber taken from such concessions as illegal.
Hengky agreed with the ministry's move to take the problem to the House for solution; however, he said, Papua would continue to object to the logging quota set by the ministry and would not back down from its plan to issue more concessions in the future.
"Until there is resolution of the matter at the House, the Papua administration is determined to manage its own forests, regardless of any policy from the ministry," said Hengky.
Papua, rich in mineral and hydrocarbon resources, has a population of 1.8 million. It had been much neglected by the government for decades and received attention from the central government only recently.
At present, the central government is allowing it to keep a larger portion than hitherto of the mining and oil revenue from the province.
Many analysts have said the province does not need to exploit its forests as it could, in the long term, improve the welfare of its people based on revenue from the oil and mining industries. However, they say, many corrupt officials in the province have been unable to restrain themselves from accepting the cash offered by concessionaires.