Perumnas to use confiscated wood

Perumnas to use confiscated wood

JAKARTA (JP): Perum Perumnas, the state-owned housing
developer, is still waiting for government instructions
authorizing them to use wood confiscated from illegal logging in
the construction of low and medium-cost public housing, said its
president, Srijono.

"We are still waiting for further instructions from the office
of the State Minister of Public Housing," he told reporters here
earlier this week.

A joint ministerial decree was signed recently by Minister of
Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo, State Minister of Public
Housing Akbar Tandjung, Attorney General Singgih, Police Chief
General Banurusman and Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad to
allow the use of confiscated wood and to give low-income people
an opportunity to purchase good-quality houses at affordable
prices.

The confiscated wood, which will be rendered freely to
Perumnas, will not be subject to reforestation fees or forest
royalties, which can reach up to a total of Rp 50,000 per cubic
meter of equivalent log wood. Perumnas only has to pay for
transportation, storage and preservation expenses.

Srijono said that at the moment, a technical team under the
coordination of the minister's office is working on details and
the implementation of the decree.

"Perumnas has not even received the confiscated wood yet, so
it would be difficult to elaborate on our plans for it," he
added.

So far, the total volume of stolen logs over the past year
reached seven million cubic meters worth about Rp 225 billion
(US$100.2 million).

Not all types of wood, however, will be subject to the plan.

The regulation will mostly affect bayur (pterospermum spp.),
eucalyptus, kenanga (cananga odorata), keruing (dipterocarpus
spp.) and merbau (instia spp.), but confiscated teakwood, meranti
(shorea sp.) and a number of other types of first-class wood will
still be subject to public auctioning.

The low and medium-cost houses to be built with the
confiscated wood will measure between 21 and 36 square meters on
land areas of between 54 and 200 square meters.

During the current Sixth Five Year Development Plan period,
Perumnas is expected to build 250,000 of the 500,000 houses
targeted by the government. The remainder should be developed by
private companies.

Perumnas was one of the 24 government institutions which
received certificates on Monday in recognition for their
dedication to the public from President Soeharto at the State
Palace.(31)