Timber companies told to sell logs to locals

Timber companies told to sell logs to locals

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Forestry Djamaluddin Suryohadikusumo has required forest concessionaires to sell, at least five percent of their log and sawn timber production to local people, an official said yesterday.

The head of the East Kalimantan office of the Ministry of Forestry, Heru Basuki Sukiran, quoted the Minister of Forestry's Decree No. 12/kpts-11/1996 dated Jan. 9, 1996, which obliges forest concession holders to sell a portion of their production to local people.

"Forest concession holders may cooperate with local sawmills to sell their products on the local market," Heru was quoted by Antara as saying in Samarinda, East Kalimantan.

Heru said concession holders who did not abide by the decree could have their concession permits revoked by the minister.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the East Kalimantan chapter of the Indonesia Forestry Society, B.S. Suba, sais he supported the ruling but he argued that local sawmills might not be able to afford to buy logs from concession holders at market prices of around US$100 per cubic meter. (04)