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)