State company takes over 22 forest concessions

State company takes over 22 forest concessions

JAKARTA (JP): The government has assigned state-owned PT
Inhutani III to take over 22 forest concessions covering 1.6
million hectares from private companies in Central Kalimantan
whose licenses have been revoked.

"Almost 93 percent of the acquired forests were damaged or
grown only by thatch grass and only 7.2 percent were still
virgin, the chief executive of Inhutani III, Kadar Slamet, told
Commission IV of the House of Representatives in a hearing
yesterday.

Members of the commission, which deals with agriculture and
transmigration, expressed concern on the matter, saying that all
forest concessions should be conceded to state companies because
private concessionaires have damaged their forest areas.

Kadar explained that the revoked concessionaires were PT
Telawang, PT Karang Sari Mulya, PT Pusaka Jaya Agung, PT Hutan
Mas, PT Batarung, PT Sehati Rungan, PT Katingan Timber Co., PT
Kalimantan Hayu, PT Kayon Timber I, PT Gempita Kalteng, PT Kayon
Timber II, PT Kalang Baru, PT Kayu Klaban Timber, PT Inka Raya
Plywood, PT Lamandau Utama Jaya, PT Kalang Murni, PT Andalan Raya
Timber, PT Sumber Alam Ramin, PT Sinyal Djaya Ltd., PT Yusmin
Trading, PT Giat Ika Aneka Timber and PT Guntur Gempita.

Inhutani III had previously held forest concessions of 725,000
hectares in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, which have now been
depleted to only 107,900 hectares.

Kadar also told the hearing that his company has signed a
memorandum of understanding with cigarette producer PT Gudang
Garam and a foreign firm to set up a joint venture, which will
establish a 176,000-hectare timber estate in Central Kalimantan.

The joint venture, which will be 40 percent owned by Inhutani
III and 30 percent by each its partners, will start operation in
May, he said.

He acknowledged that log theft and illegal logging are still
common in Central Kalimantan. "Illegal logging is frequently
conducted through collusion between businesspeople and forest
security officers.

Inhutani III, therefore, has changed its security policy by
training a hundred people from local tribes and employing them as
security guards, he added.

Kadar also reported that his company's sales revenues
increased by 78 percent to Rp 72.8 billion (US$31.5 million) last
year from Rp 40.8 billion in 1994. (kod)