Reforestation funds used to buy DSTP shares

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo said that Rp 100 billion (US$43.47 million) in reforestation funds had been given as a loan to the People's Prosperity Savings, a savings fund established to help alleviate poverty.

Djamaludin also said Wednesday that six state-owned firms overseen by his ministry have bought 15,100 shares worth $15.1 million in PT Dua Satu Tiga Puluh (DSTP), a company set up in February to finance the construction of 100-seater N-2130 jets by the state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN).

DSTP has President Soeharto as its chief commissioner and Minister/Cabinet Secretary Saadilah Mursid, while IPTN is led by State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie.

Djamaludin was quoted by Kompas as saying in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, that the People's Prosperity Savings -- locally known by the acronym of Takesra -- had to make the loan because the funds collected from the country's big companies and businessmen were not yet sufficient for it to begin activities.

He declined to mention when the loan would be repaid, but asserted that it would be done once major businessmen and companies had made their contribution to the Takesra.

The Takesra campaign is designed to encourage poor people to pick up the saving habit. Selected Takesra participants must have savings of at least Rp 2,000 to be entitled to an initial loan of Rp 20,000, and will have their credit ceilings gradually increased in line with the growth of their businesses.

Funds for Takesra were expected to come from the Dana Sejahtera Mandiri Foundation, established in January by President Soeharto and a number of the country's biggest corporate and individual taxpayers.

The foundation was set up in 1995 by Presidential decree which appealed to those with annual after-tax incomes of over Rp 100 million to donate 2 percent of their wealth to help finance the government's poverty alleviation programs.

Meanwhile, Djamaludin said that the Ministry of Forestry's state-owned firms, namely Perum Perhutani and PT Inhutani I through V, had bought shares of DSTP to help build N-2130 jets.

The aircraft is expected to enter the world market in 2006.

DSTP is offering shares to the public to raise the necessary funds. So far, more than 20 tycoons have pledged to buy shares in DSTP.

As of Dec. 31, 1995, reforestation funds, which are a mandatory fee paid by concessionaires to ensure environmentally- sustainable management, reached Rp 2.6 trillion, excluding the interest of Rp 796 billion.

The fees are relative to the amount of timber felled by concessionaires.

Djamaludin said that a large part of the reforestation funds -- Rp 600 billion last year -- went towards the establishment of industrial timber estates. (pwn)