Surjadi wants influx of illegal wood stopped

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja urged the city forestry department, the police and the port authority to work together to curb the entrance of illegal timber into the city.

"The illegal harvesting and the smuggling of wood is not only causing financial losses to the administration and the country, but is also causing damage to the forests. Therefore it is important for all related agencies to work together in handling this matter," Surjadi said when opening a meeting of Jakarta forestry officials on Wednesday.

"Guarding the main smuggling entry points for illegal timber will have a significant impact," he said. Most illegal wood entering the city is from Kalimantan and Sumatra.

Greater amounts of illegally harvested wood can be expected to flood the capital in the future as demand for lumber increases. The capital requires four million cubic meters of timber this year, with demand rising four percent every year.

The governor urged the existing forest supervision team to step up operations to curb the illegal timber business. The team consists of Armed Forces members from the Jakarta Military Command, city police officers and officials from the forestry agency and port authority.

The team has confiscated at least 5,000 cubic meters of illegal timber from South Sumatra since January.

The city administration estimates that more than three million cubic meters of illegal timber, worth more than Rp 5 billion (US$2.17 million), enters the city each year. Only around 1,700 cubic meters, worth Rp 250 million, is confiscated by the supervision team every year. (yns)