Papua refuses to revoke logging licenses

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.