Soeharto, associates own 9m ha of forest

Soeharto, associates own 9m ha of forest

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Forestry and Plantations Muslimin
Nasution disclosed on Monday that his office had discovered
around nine million hectares of forests throughout the country
were owned or controlled by former president Soeharto, his family
and close associates.

Muslimin said that the Soeharto family and their close
associates controlled the forests through shares held in various
companies which owned forest concessions, industrial timber
estates and plantations.

"We found a strong indication that those properties were
acquired by the Soeharto family and their cronies through KKN
(the local acronym for corruptive, collusive and nepotistic)
practices," he said after the installment ceremony of the
ministry's top echelon.

Most of the forest and plantation areas controlled by these
people are located in Irian Jaya, Maluku and East Kalimantan, he
said.

Muslimin said that the plots were controlled by the former
first family through shares held in various companies, including
those in timber tycoon Prajogo Pangestu's Barito Pacific Timber
and Mohammad "Bob" Hasan's Kalimanis Group and ITCI.

"Our findings will be reported directly to the Coordinating
Minister for Development Supervision/State Administrative Reform
Pak Hartarto and the Coordinating Minister of Economy Finance and
Industry Pak Ginandjar Kartasasmita for further investigation,"
he said.

Muslimin said his office would continue efforts to trace other
forestry properties linked to Soeharto and his family and cronies
because their property assets could be much larger than the nine
million hectares already discovered.

"We will conduct more thorough investigations because the
Soeharto family may have sold or transferred their shares to
other parties," he said.

Prajogo ranks first in the list of the country's biggest
concession holders. His Barito Pacific owns the rights to 3.5
million hectares of forest concession in Riau, Jambi, Central and
South Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, Maluku and Irian Jaya through
27 companies.

The timber tycoon is a close associate of Soeharto's eldest
daughter Siti Hardijanti Rukmana, popularly known as Tutut. They
jointly established Tanjung Enim Lestari pulp and paper factory
in South Sumatra.

Bob Hasan, a long-time crony of former president Soeharto, is
in fourth position. His Kalimanis Group holds logging rights to
1.63 million hectares in East Kalimantan, Aceh and Southeast
Sulawesi.

Soeharto's youngest daughter Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih,
popularly known as Mamiek, holds the rights to exploit 549,500
hectares of forest in Central Kalimantan.

Muslimin said his ministry would soon review the swap deal
between PT Kia Timor Motor in Cikampek, West Java owned by
Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra and PT Bukit
Jonggol Asri also in West Java owned by Tommy's elder brother
Bambang Trihatmodjo and his ministry.

Muslimin replaced on Monday six key officials at his ministry.

He installed Waskito Soejodibroto as director general of
forest utilization and Abdul Manan Siregar as director general of
forest protection and nature conservation replacing Harnanto H.
Martosiswojo and Soemarsono respectively.

The minister also appointed Agus Pakpahan as director general
of plantations to replace A. Rante Tondok, and Pasril Wahid as
the head of the ministry's research and development agency,
replacing Toga Silitonga.

Roedjai Djakaria was installed as the head of the ministry's
planning agency and Brig. Gen. Soentoro as the inspector general
to replace Hariadi Dharmawan who is facing charges of treason.
(gis)