Timber fencing and smuggling still rampant
JAKARTA (JP): A government raid has discovered more than 200,000 cubic meters of sawn timber being illegally transported and bought by wood-processing companies, proving that timber smuggling and wood fencing are still rampant practices.
Director General of Forest Utilization Titus Sarijanto told reporters yesterday that post-audit results -- based on the reports of an operation team set up to curb forestry crime -- found 234,943 cubic meters of illegally sawn timber during a recent raid in East Java.
"We have evidence confirming that there has been illegal transportation and selling of timber... It is a pity that several wood processing firms are also involved by buying the illegal timber," he said.
Titus explained that the wood was accompanied by counterfeit documents, with either fake serial numbers, or carrying a serial number which has already been used.
Either case involves the use of counterfeit forms which can only be issued by the state-owned money printing company, Peruri.
The transportation document forms -- locally acronymed SAKO for processed wood and SAKB for logs -- must be filled out by forest concessionaires before they can sell the timber to wood processing firms.
The documents ascertain that the forest royalties and reforestation funds for the timber have been paid.
These are mandatory fees guaranteeing that forest concessionaires manage their forests in an environmentally- sustainable manner.
Titus, who was accompanied yesterday by Director General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation Soemarsono, said 386 fake SAKO and SAKB forms were found in raids on East Java's ports of Surabaya and Gresik.
The illegal timber, he said, caused financial losses of at least Rp 24.6 billion (US$10.69 million) in unpaid forest royalties and reforestation funds.
And if prices of logs are accounted for, the losses could exceed $1.06 billion, Titus said.
"We have uncovered a syndication of document counterfeiters consisting of 11 people. They do everything from ordering, printing and distributing the phony documents," Titus said.
The syndication members, who are currently waiting to go on trial after being arrested in May, claim that they have distributed some 500 counterfeit documents in Indonesia, Titus said.
Kalimantan
Apart from East Java, the government has also uncovered similar findings in Kalimantan, where most of the illegal timber was transported from Central Kalimantan to West Kalimantan.
The findings include 2,260 cubic meters of logs bought by PT Rimba Ramin, 2,465 cubic meters of logs purchased by PT Karunia Kapuas and up to 11,589 cubic meters of logs bought by a number of other wood-processing mills.
Titus acknowledged the important role of brokers in such cases. He said the government has repeatedly warned forest concessionaires not to sell to brokers and reminded wood-based industrial firms not to buy from brokers.
"Brokers will do everything to claim that their illegal purchases of timber are legal," he said.
But he acknowledged that it will be difficult to stop their operation since the unfavorable financial conditions of concessionaires often require wood-processing companies to pay cash for their timber.
"Since this is not always easy for wood-processing firms, concessionaires prefer to turn to brokers, who are willing not only to pay cash for the timber but also sell it with a credit arrangement to wood-processing companies," Titus said.
Last month the government uncovered a new system of wood smuggling at Jakarta's Tanjung Priok harbor. The operation attempted to smuggle up to Rp 45 million worth of processed wood from Sulawesi for exports. (pwn)