Rizal gets serious about reforestation program

Rizal gets serious about reforestation program

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

North Sumatra Governor T. Rizal Nurdin has instructed all
regents and mayors to speed up reforestation programs in their
areas, using the Rp 28 billion in reforestation funds allocated
by the central government last month, according to the head of
the provincial Forestry Ministry Office Darori.

After meeting with the governor, Darori told The Jakarta Post
on Wednesday that the governor had told him to coordinate with
regional administrations to deal with environmental problems in
the wake of recent floods.

Citing Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare Yusuf Kalla in
his visit to flood-hit areas on Tuesday, the governor said that
deforestation had triggered the floods, which affected more than
eight districts in the province.

The floods left four people dead and 10 people were reported
missing.

Minister Kalla asked the North Sumatra administration to
manage the forests better, so as to prevent more floods in the
future.

Darori admitted that the forests in the province had been
destroyed, blaming forest concession holders who had improperly
turned the forests into plantation sites.

"A total of two million hectares of forest have been converted
into plantation estates," Darori said.

Records held by the Forestry Ministry office indicate that, as
at April 20, 2001, North Sumatra had a total of 3,675,918
hectares of forest, 1,034,909 hectares of which - located in 11
regencies and mayoralties - were declared to be in critical
condition.

"The most severely damaged forests are located in Karo, South
Tapanuli, Mandailing Natal and Dairi," Darori said.

He said that the exploitation of forests by concession holders
had been illegally backed by Forestry Ministry officials and
security officers.

"Financial problems have become the main constraint for the
Forestry Ministry in conducting reforestation. Therefore, in the
future, regional administrations (regents and mayors) will be in
charge of reforestation programs starting this month," he said.

Thirteen regencies and mayoralties have received reforestation
funds as part of the central government's 2001 budget.

Mandailing Natal received Rp 9,843,684,200, Nias
Rp 3,989,685,000, Labuhan Batu Rp 3,375,879,900, North Tapanuli
Rp 2,375,879,900, South Tapanuli Rp 2,454,987,900, Dairi Rp
1,853,165,400, Central Tapanuli Rp 709,335,900, Karo Rp
472,011,600, Deli Serdang Rp 195,133,300, Langkat Rp 477,183,700,
Simalungun Rp 787,170,200, Asahan Rp 187,222,500 and Toba Samosir
Rp 569,578,000.

In a separate interview, the deputy speaker of the province's
Legislative Council Hasrul said that regents and mayors should
spend the money in a transparent manner. "They must work hard to
implement the programs. The money should be used properly based
on the programs, therefore public accountability on the use of
the money will be needed."