Rizal calls for revise of forestry policies

Rizal calls for revise of forestry policies

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia needs to revise its forestry policies
to solve the acute problems in the forestry sector, said
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Rizal Ramli.

Speaking at a meeting of the Association of Indonesian
Economists (ISEI) in Surabaya on Friday evening, Rizal said new
initiatives involving intergovernmental institutions and non-
governmental organizations needed to be taken to improve forestry
policies.

Rizal said the international community had long been observing
Indonesia's forestry policies which have failed to curb illegal
logging.

The minister made his statement following the replacement of
Nur Mahmudi Ismail as Minister of Forestry by Marzuki Usman, who
is the former state minister of tourism.

Nur Mahmudi was dismissed by President Abdurrahman Wahid on
Friday on the grounds that the former Justice Party (PK)
chairman's vision for the forestry sector was unclear.

Defense minister Mahfud M.D. said Nur Mahmudi's policies were
often not in line with the President's.

At a media conference on Friday, Nur Mahmudi said he had
expected to be replaced.

"It has been hinted at for a long time ... long before the haj
pilgrimage," he said.

Nur Mahmudi said he strongly believed his dismissal was
because he had refused the President's orders to replace the
ministry's secretary-general, Soeripto.

"If he (the President) had asked Pak Ripto be replaced because
of a difference in vision and politics, I would not have
hesitated ... but since it were based on unfounded accusations, I
did not consent," he said, adding that the accusations against
Soeripto had been voiced for a long time.

Soeripto has been accused, among other things, of secretly
meeting with former chief of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus)
Maj. Gen. Muchdi Purwopranjono to plot Abdurrahman's downfall, of
smuggling fugitive Tommy Soeharto out of the country in one of
the ministry's helicopters, and of conspiring with the Army to
smuggle logs out of the country.

Nur Mahmudi also denied that he had no clear vision for the
forestry sector.

He said during his time as minister he had done his best to
rid the ministry of collusive, corruptive and nepotistic
practices, and also tried to recover reforestation funds which
had been misused.

"We are the only ministry that has filed a case against a high
profile figure, like Bob Hasan, who has now been sentenced to six
years in jail," Nur Mahmudi said.

Bob Hasan, a former minister of industry and trade under
former president Soeharto, has been convicted of abusing funds
for aerial photography through his company PT Mapindo Parama.

Nur Mahmudi also said there were other high profile cases that
the ministry was currently working on.

Soeripto said he was currently compiling evidence against
Probosutedjo and Prajogo Pangestu who are high profile
businessmen.

Probosutedjo is allegedly involved in fraud through his
company PT Menara Hutan Buana, and Prajogo Pangestu's company, PT
Musi Hutan Persada, is also allegedly involved in a markup of an
industrial forest project in South Sumatra and of not repaying
reforestation loans, he said.

According to the Kompas daily, reforestation funds loaned to
PT Musi Hutan Persada, as of Jan. 15 2001, amounted to Rp 182.1
billion (about US$18.2 million), of which the company has only
repaid Rp 42 billion.

In a ceremony installing Marzuki Usman as the new minister of
forestry on Saturday, President Abdurrahman Wahid said the new
minister must put priority on saving the forests.

"The forest is our natural wealth, so it has to be managed as
well as possible and treated as part of our national heritage,"
he said at the ceremony.

Marzuki said one of his first priorities would be to prevent
forest fires, which he said had been the source of humiliation.

"We are ashamed of being blamed (for the forest fires) by the
world every year," he said, adding that he would welcome advice
from all related institutions. (tnt)