State forestry firms urged to sell timber to locals
State forestry firms urged to sell timber to locals
JAKARTA (JP): State-owned forestry firms were urged yesterday to provide timber at low prices to local forest dwellers to halt the increasing number of timber theft cases.
"State companies, unlike private firms, have the special mission of serving the people. Profit-seeking for them is not always the main priority," said Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo.
Djamaludin was speaking at the opening of a national meeting of five state-owned companies: PT Inhutani I, II, III, IV and V. The meeting was attended by members of the boards of commissioners, boards of directors and other high-ranking firm officials.
The Inhutani companies carry out their activities, which include the management of forest concessionaires, on islands outside of Java.
"Local people living off the forests often don't know where to get cheap wood. As a result, they often steal the timber they need," Djamaludin said.
Djamaludin said state firms are presently required to establish log depots where the local people can get wood at affordable prices.
He said private concessionaires would be required to follow suit in the near future.
"The stipulation, which is presently in the form of a circular from the Director General of Forest Utilization, will soon be enforced under a ministerial decree," he said.
Djamaludin said concessionaires will be required to supply five percent of their total production to the log depots.
Private concessionaires in particular must be capable of allocating their timber production for their own wood-based plants and for the log depots.
"To be able to do this, private concessionaires must adjust the capacity of their wood processing facilities with their timber supplies," he said.
Djamaludin added that to ensure a steady profit without felling more timber, wood processing plants should seek more advanced technologies which may allow them to manufacture higher value-added products.
ITTO
Meanwhile, Director General of Forest Utilization Titus Sarijanto reported yesterday that Indonesia has been classified by the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) as one of the countries most prepared to meet ecolabeling requirements.
Ghana and Malaysia were also considered to have sound forestry management.
Ecolabeling will, in the next century, become a prerequisite for producers of tropical timber wanting to export their products to certain consumer countries.
The ITTO's expert panel presented the results of its study at the organization's ongoing annual meeting in Yokohama, Japan. The meeting will end on Saturday.
Titus said the expert panel studied 25 countries producing tropical timber, including Brazil, Thailand, Venezuela, the Philippines, Colombia and Ecuador.
The studies were made to assess the condition of tropical forests in these countries and to evaluate the sustainability of their management.
Titus said that the results of the study also included recommendations from 26 consumer countries, such as Germany, Japan, the United States and the Netherlands.
The expert panel said, however, that despite the achievements, the 25 producer countries still lack high-quality human resources and need to overcome corruption, illegal logging and the exploitation of forest resources.
Titus said the 25 producers of tropical timber needed a total of US$2.2 billion a year to conduct sustainable forest management. This amount, he added, only covers top priority activities. (pwn)