Plantations complain of rampant theft

Plantations complain of rampant theft

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned plantation companies complained to
the House of Representatives here on Monday that lootings had
caused them hundreds of millions of dollars in losses and warned
that if those responsible were not stopped, the companies might
have to close their operations.

"We have reported the lootings to local security officials but
no firm measures have been taken to resolve the security
problems," Edward Sitorus, the president of PTP Nusantara II
(PTPN II), told the House Commission IX on financial and
development planning affairs during a hearing.

Lootings of plantations have become rampant since late 1997
when the economic crisis caused many businesses to go bankrupt,
resulting in massive worker layoffs and the impoverishment of
millions of people.

Sitorus warned that if the security of the plantations did not
improve and lootings could not be stopped, many plantation firms
might be forced to close operations.

At the hearing, the directors of 10 state plantation companies
briefed the House members on the security problems and instances
of illegal land appropriation by locals that they had encountered
since 1997.

"PTPN I alone (based in N. Sumatra) suffered Rp 182 billion
(US$20 million at the current rate) in 1997 due to lootings at
its palm oil, rubber and cacao plantations. The losses rose to Rp
498 billion in 1998 before declining to Rp 165 billion last
year," he added.

He said lootings at PTPN I plantations declined last year
after his company spent Rp 3.5 billion on security measures in
addition to the routine security programs already in place.

"During the first 10 months of this year, PTPN I has spent
more than Rp 1.1 billion on security programs," Sitorus said, as
quoted by Antara news agency.

He said that if the government managed to improve the security
conditions of the plantation areas, then it would be able to
increase its tax and dividend revenue from state plantation
companies.

Rusyad Nurdin, president of PTPN VII in Lampung (southern
Sumatra), told the same hearing that the looting and pillage of
plantations by locals had damaged 26,196 hectares of the
company's plantation area.

"This year alone we lost 1.35 million kilograms (kg) of rubber
and 29.88 million kg of palm oil to looters," Nurdin
added.

PTPN I, which is based in Aceh, said it had been forced to
stop exports after lootings had sharply cut down its palm oil
production. (vin)