Timber estate, pulp plant development questioned
Timber estate, pulp plant development questioned
JAKARTA (JP): Japanese parliamentarians and members of non-
governmental organizations (NGO) questioned the development of a
timber estate and pulp plant in South Sumatra, which are
suspected to have negative impacts on the people in surrounding
areas.
Parliamentarian Shinichi Koizumi and Coordinator of the Japan
Tropical Forest Action Network, Yoichi Kuroda, said that studies
have shown the development of the pulp plant, to be built by PT
Tanjung Enim Lestari, and the timber estate, owned by PT Musi
Hutan Persada, has sparked land conflicts with the indigenous
people of the area, the Antara news agency reported over the
weekend.
Minister
Kuroda, accompanied by members of the Indonesian Forum for
Environment (Walhi), met on Friday with Minister of Forestry
Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo to report on the studies conducted by
Walhi.
The ministry's inspector general, Hariadi Darmawan, quoted
Djamaludin as saying that the Japanese were concerned that
Japan's financial aid -- provided for reforestation projects and
the construction of a pulp factory in South Sumatra -- would not
reach its objective but would instead cause problems with
indigenous people.
Japan's donor agencies for Indonesia's forest development
projects include the Japan International Cooperation Agency
(JICA) and the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund.
JICA is a donor to the government's reforestation program in
several areas of South Sumatra. According to Walhi, the areas
have been taken over by Musi Persada.
Walhi's studies have also discovered that Musi Persada, in
order to establish its timber estate, has appropriated the land
of seven indigenous villages at an extremely low price.
According to Walhi's site surveys, Musi Persada has also
allocated an area with an extremely low tree density for its
conservation site and an area with a high tree density for its
timber estate.
Destruction
Kuroda pointed out that forest destruction caused by such
operations could endanger the people's lives.
Walhi also reported that Tanjung Enim had problems with the
1,600 hectares of land intended for its pulp factory.
The land currently overlaps with five villages.
Kuroda considered the compensation offered by Tanjung Enim to
the people was too small and provided them with no means of
security.
"The minister agrees that development must not disregard the
people's interest. Problems related to the social and public
aspects of the forest will be highly regarded by the government,"
Hariadi said.
"All the problems will be carefully taken care of, but it is
impossible to satisfy everyone," Djamaludin said.
Tanjung Enim, a subsidiary of the Barito Pacific Group, will
be built in collaboration with Japan's Marubeni Corp. and Nippon
Paper Industries.
The two Japanese companies are expected to invest about US$100
million in the planned $1 billion pulp factory.
Tanjung Enim's pulp production, planned to have an initial
capacity of 450,000 tons per year -- which will be increased to
one million tons a year -- will require some two million cubic
meters of raw material during its first year of production.
Timber supply for the factory is expected to come from Musi
Persada's timber estate.
Musi Persada, 60 percent owned by Barito Pacific and 40
percent by state-owned PT Inhutani II, has concessions of 193,000
hectares for industrial timber plantation in South Sumatra. (pwn)