Plantation firms protest lax local govt security

JAKARTA (JP): Members of the Association of Plantation Companies in West Java (GPP) have refused to pay land and property tax and local levies as a protest to local. administration's failure to curb theft from plantation areas.

Association chairwoman Sjarifah Joesoef said on Monday that the members would not pay tax now as well as for last year.

She said calls from the plantation firms in West Java for the authorities to provide security reinforcement went unheeded.

"We urge the government to enforce the law and to be more strict in handling theft cases, otherwise we will continue to not pay taxes.

"For a long time, plantation companies are always milked by local administration to pay various taxes and levies. And what do we get in return? They do not care at all," she said in a meeting with Director General of Plantations Agus Pakpahan.

Sjarifah said plantation companies in West Java were required to pay 132 different fees to the local administration.

"The number does not include various unofficial levies, such as a contribution for commemorating the Indonesian independence day, city's anniversary, police anniversary, and others," she said.

Sjarifah said the decision to suspend payment of taxes and levies was started by the association's Sukabumi chapter and might be followed by other plantation owners in Indonesia as they suffer the same problems.

"It does not mean we are trying to run away from obligations. But we are postponing the payment until we see serious action from the government in handling the theft cases. If this move costs us a fine or penalty, we consider it a risk we have to take to fight."

Syarifah said groups of people have stolen from plantation companies in West Java taking hundreds of thousands of metric tons of latex, cocoa beans, coconuts, tea and other items. They have also destroyed plantation facilities such as vehicles, processing plants and even employees' houses.

"They have even occupied the plantation areas saying the land belonged to their ancestors who received no land compensation from plantation founders," she said.

The director general said rampant theft from plantation areas caused an estimated material loss of Rp 2.6 trillion last year.

He added that the loss was calculated by taking into account the volume of commodities stolen. The figure excluded any loss which resulted from damage or fire due to arson.

The country is facing the worst economic crisis in history. The number of poor has soared, and cases of rampant theft has also increased greatly in certain pockets of the country.

"The government will solve these problems and will continue to improve the security of plantation firms," he said.

But Sjarifah said security reinforcement provided by the government was discriminative because only big plantations were protected.

"The Minister of Defense and Security/Commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces Gen. Wiranto had instructed the Armed Forces and Police to secure areas owned by big plantation firms, foreign companies and state plantation firms.

"No instructions were given to medium and small scale plantation companies," she said.

Sjarifah said aside from thefts, most plantation companies in West Java were also suffering from various levies, an increase in land and property tax and wages.

She said the number of plantation firms in West Java have continued to decline to 178 firms currently operating in 376,503 hectares of land. This is down from 287 firms covering 420,241 hectares of plantation in 1987, and is due to many firms not surviving pressure.

"For example, the land and property tax imposed on us was raised around 100 percent. We have to pay our workers according to regional minimum wages, although the working hours of plantation laborers are less than industrial workers," he said. (gis)