Professor blasts KL over illegal logging

Professor blasts KL over illegal logging

Edi Petebang, The Jakarta Post, Pontianak

A professor at the Tanjungpura University in Pontianak, West
Kalimantan, said here on Wednesday that illegal logging in
Kalimantan could not be stopped unless the Malaysian government
prohibited the entry of illegal timber from Kalimantan.

Dean of the forestry school of Tanjungpura University,
Herujono Hadisuparto said that illegal loggers operating in
Kalimantan were lured by the fact that they could sell timber at
a higher price in East Malaysia or Serawak.

"If one cubic meter of logs costs Rp 600,000 in Kalimantan, it
sells for some 600 ringgit, the equivalent of Rp 1.5 million per
cubic meter in East Malaysia or Serawak," Herujono said.

In a seminar arranged by forestry students in Pontianak on
Monday, Herujono also said that his recent research indicated
that the intergovernmental pact between Malaysia and Indonesia to
curb illegal logging had been violated.

"The Malaysian government has been inconsistent and unfair in
dealing with processed timber smuggled from Kalimantan. This
encourages the illegal logging in Kalimantan," Herujono said. He
did not reveal when his research was conducted.

"In the state of Serawak, the Malaysian government has even
established a company Hard Wood Sendirian Berhards (HWSS), which
legalizes timber imports from East, West and South Kalimantan. A
tax of 15 ringgit is imposed on each tan (1.3 cubic meters) of
Kalimantan logs entering the state. In this way all timber and
logs from Kalimantan are considered legal. The HWSS services are
located in several areas on the border known to be smuggling
spots," Herujanto said.

"In West Kalimantan alone, the uncontrolled illegal logging
has caused the West Kalimantan administration to suffer at least
Rp 180 billion in financial losses per annum," he said.

The money derived from the taxes and fees which should have
been paid to the provincial administration was earmarked to fund
reforestation programs.