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)