Special regulation needed for illegal logging: House
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The House of Representatives urged the government on Thursday to issue a government regulation in lieu of law (Perpu) that would serve as the legal basis for combating illegal logging and fish poaching.
The demand came following a House internal meeting attended by House deputy speakers Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno and Tosari Widjaja, and leaders of House Commission I for security and foreign affairs, Commission II for legal affairs and Commission III for forestry.
"Illegal logging and fish poaching are rampant across the country. These activities have caused trillions of rupiah in state losses. We are now in an emergency situation," Soetardjo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said on Thursday.
Soetardjo, who has just recovered from dengue fever, was accompanied by A.M. Luthfi and Sudarno from Commission I, Hamdan Zoelva from Commission II and Rosnain Yahya from Commission III.
Hamdan said the Perpu would specify which institution was authorized to arrest illegal loggers and bring them to court.
The Perpu, he added, would also suggest the establishment of special courts to handle cases of illegal logging and fish poaching. Trials for illegal loggers and poachers must be quick and efficient, he said without going into detail.
Hamdan from the Crescent Star Party (PBB) suggested the Perpu should explicitly state that up to 25 percent of the money from the sale of confiscated logs be used to finance operations to fight illegal logging.
Indonesia has approximately 120.35 million hectares of tropical rain forest, or 63 percent of the country's land territory. However, it faces a serious threat of deforestation, with between 1.6 million and 2.1 million hectares of forest disappearing each year.
It is estimated that 50 million cubic meters of illegally cut logs are lost each year, causing the state loses of about Rp 30 trillion every year.
Luthfi said members of House Commission I had investigated illegal logging in Kalimantan, along the border with Malaysia.
He said that if Indonesia stopped illegal logging, sawmills in Malaysia would have to stop operating.
Soetardjo emphasized that illegal logging and fish poaching across the country caused massive financial losses for the state.
Illegal logging also destroys the forest and damages Indonesia's image in the international community, he said.
He claimed that illegal logging was encouraged by the Tawao Border Trade, which allowed commodities to enter the country legally or illegally after being taxed.
"This legislation has been misused by gangs in Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as the security apparatus, to carry out illegal logging," he said.
Soetardjo said the House would support the closure of the Indonesia-Malaysia border in Kalimantan to stop the activities of sawmills in Malaysia.
The National Police's efforts to combat fish poaching have been hindered by contradictions between regional regulations and existing laws.
Several cases investigated by the National Police could not be followed up because they were rejected by the Attorney General's Office, Soetardjo said.