Provinces to get 90% of reforestation funds

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Forestry Marzuki Usman said on Thursday that 90 percent of reforestation funds raised from timber companies would be given to regional administrations in a bid to improve land rehabilitation programs in the provinces.

The minister said in Balikpapan that 70 percent of the reforestation funds would be channeled to regencies and the other 20 percent to provinces.

The combined amount of reforestation funds to be channeled to each province would account for 90 percent of the total reforestation funds raised in the area, he said.

Marzuki said distribution of reforestation funds would be stipulated in a regulation which is now awaiting approval from the President.

"Let's hope that the regulation will be approved, so that the central government only gets 10 percent," he was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.

He was speaking during a meeting on overcoming forest fires held in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

Marzuki said he hoped that with the regions getting the lion's share of the reforestation funds, management and rehabilitation of their forests as well as regional development could be accelerated.

At the meeting, the forestry minister pointed out that the businesses must first hand over their reforestation funds before receiving a concession.

In past experience, many businesses did not pay their reforestation funds. "No wonder many reforestation projects failed due to a lack of funds," he said.

Several regents in East Kalimantan hailed the new reforestation policy and hoped the new split could be realized as soon as possible.

"The life of people living near the forests has become so deplorable, that the increase in reforestation funds would enable the regions to rehabilitate their forests and raise the income of locals," Bulungan Regent Anang Dachlan Jauhari said.

People in Bulungan regency, he said, were not able to reap any benefits from the nearby forests, as almost all of its resources had been exploited by concessionaires, and even state forestry companies, as most forests were under their control.