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.