RI adopting stiffer forestry regulations
JAKARTA (JP): The government has tightened forestry regulations, threatening immediate cancellation of forest concessions for violators, including those who fence stolen logs.
"The new regulations, under the Ministry of Forestry's Decree No. 393/1994, are stricter than previous rulings especially on matters like fencing stolen logs," Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo said in a hearing with Commission IV of the House of Representatives (DPR) here yesterday.
The Minister warned that under the new decree, any concessionaires fencing wood products will face immediate cancellation of their concession licenses without prior warnings.
"In fencing cases we will immediately revoke their concessions," Djamaludin said, adding that the decree was signed on Sept. 5 and effected immediately.
According to past rulings, fencers of stolen logs were fined from Rp 900 million to Rp 1 billion.
In Indonesia, forest concessions (HPH) are considered government property which are later given to wood-based companies under a limited period of time and under strict regulations, including those on reforestation and selective cutting.
Aside from fencing, the new decree also stipulates that concession licenses can be revoked without prior warnings if the concessionaires leave the concession areas totally idle for two consecutive years.
The same sanction is also applied for companies which transfer concession rights to other parties without prior consent of the Ministry of Forestry.
Djamaludin also explained that those who violate forest preservation laws as stipulated by Government Regulations No. 28/1985 may also lose their licenses without prior warnings.
The minister, however, said that the government will still issue three warnings in advance for concessionaires involved in 'administrative' violations.
Such violations include a delay in payment of levies, failure to submit annual logging plans on time, failure to employ forestry experts, failure to own wood-based industrial facilities and failure to utilize concessions in a subsequent two-year period after submitting annual logging plans.
Sustainable
The new decree is part of a series of measures introduced by Djamaludin that aim to secure more sustainable forest development.
The minister announced last week that his ministry is developing a standardized forestry-accounting method together with the Indonesian Association of Accountants and from university experts.
"This method will be applied next year and we have committed about Rp 200 million in spending for this project," Djamaludin said yesterday.
He also explained that the accounting method will enable his office to see how much capital has been injected by a concessionaire into its reforestation efforts.
Djamaludin shocked the local business community two weeks ago by forcing influential tycoon Prajogo Pangestu to surrender almost half of the equity shares in his two timber companies to state-owned forestry companies.
Djamaludin also announced last week that the government will force the merger of 195 concessionaires into a smaller number over the coming five years under a new management system, called KPHPs, to assure the sustainability of Indonesian forests.
The current concession system has been criticized by various environmental groups as well as the World Bank which estimates that about 1.1 million hectares of Indonesian forests are destroyed annually.
Djamaludin said recently that Indonesia currently has 113 million hectares of forests holding some 2.4 billion cubic meters of logs, as compared to a previous claim of 141 million hectares. (hdj)