Rini suspends senior staff

Rini suspends senior staff

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Minister of Trade and Industry Rini Soewandi has suspended the
director general of international trade Riyanto B. Yosokumoro
from duty as punishment for breaching a ministerial decree.

"I have only suspended him (Riyanto) because the appointment
and discharge of a director general can only be executed with a
presidential decree, so I am waiting for that decision," Rini
said on the sidelines of a meeting with non-governmental
organizations on Friday.

Riyanto's position will be temporarily taken over by the
Director General of Domestic Trade Teddy Setiadi until a
replacement is appointed, she said.

Riyanto had issued an official letter on Nov. 7 authorizing 11
exporting companies to export logs, which was in direct violation
of a joint ministerial decree banning the export of logs effected
on Oct. 8.

The ministerial decree was issued jointly by the minister of
industry and trade and the minister of forestry to protect
Indonesia's forests from illegal logging activities. It gave
exporters 23 days to carry out their exports before the decree
took effect.

However, 11 companies failed to export their products within
the stipulated time and asked the director general for exemption
from the decree, claiming bad weather and technical difficulties
had interrupted their ability to export on time.

The 11 companies are PT Prabu Alaska Unit I, PT Inanta Timber,
PT Bhara Induk, PT Keang Nam Development Indonesia, PT Melapi
Timber, PT Teluk Bintuni Mina Agro Karya, PT Kedaung Madu
Tropical Wood, PT Kaltim Bhakti Sejahtera, PT Bumi Simanggaris
Indah, PT Karangjoang Hijau Lestari and PT Papua Nabire
Development.

The companies received an exemption for 72,147 cubic meters of
log exports worth US$21.6 million.

Riyanto claimed earlier that he was forced to make a decision
because, at the time, the minister was in Doha, Qatar, attending
the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting.

Rini said that Riyanto had acted above his authority because a
director general cannot issue dispensation of a ministerial
decree.

"Something like this needs consultation and the approval of a
minister," she said, adding that according to the latest
coordination meeting with the coordinating minister for political
and security affairs the logs would be detained at seaports until
further notice.