Timber firm linked to military may lose license

Timber firm linked to military may lose license

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Forestry and Plantations Muslimin
Nasution said on Thursday that his office was considering
revoking a logging license of a timber company linked to the
Ministry of Defense and Security for allegedly smuggling logs.

Muslimin said he had received reports that PT Yayasan Maju
Kerja (Yamaker), a company under the Ministry of Defense and
Security, allegedly cooperated with several Malaysian companies
to smuggle logs from Indonesian forests in Kalimantan to
neighboring Malaysia.

"Our investigations show that more than 100,000 cubic meters
of logs have been smuggled out of Kalimantan to Malaysia through
Yamaker's logging area during the July-October period of this
year. It has caused a loss of Rp 134 billion (US$1.8 million) to
the country," Muslimin said in a hearing with House of
Representatives Commission III for agriculture, forestry and
plantations, transmigration and food affairs.

He added that the loss inflicted during the four-month period
was only from the selling of logs and did not include the loss
the government suffered from not receiving export taxes on the
logs.

"We suspect that Yamaker was involved in smuggling activities.
So, if the company is found guilty, we urge the government to
revoke the presidential decree which granted a logging contract
to the company."

Muslimin said Presidential Decree No.44/1992 allowed PT
Yamaker to carry out logging operation in the forest areas along
the Indonesia-Malaysia border in Kalimantan.

He said that the contract was given to Yamaker because the
forest area was considered a security zone, so "it was thought
better if it was managed by an Armed Forces-linked timber firm."

He said that instead of helping the government to secure the
country's forests, the company tolerated smuggling activities in
its area.

Yamaker's executives were not available for comment when
contacted on Thursday.

Muslimin said that his office's investigation indicated that
the company had smuggled between 100 cubic meters and 300 cubic
meters of logs per day from the company's concession area since
it began operating in 1992.

Muslimin said that based on the investigation, the company
also failed to meet its obligation to promote the welfare of the
local people.

The minister said he had also received reports from
legislators and local residents that the company had illegally
subcontracted its logging activities.

Leasing out a logging contract to another company, he said,
violated a ministerial decree that states concessionaires are
required to exploit their areas by themselves and are prohibited
from contracting or transferring the management of concessions,
including the logging contracts, to others without the minister's
permission.

Legislator Umbu Mehang Kunda, who chairs the House Commission
III, said that the Commission members supported the minister's
effort to revoke the company's license because it had "violated
many regulations".

"We have more than enough evidence that the company is
involved in smuggling activities. So, we want the decree be
revoked," he said.

"The government should not hesitate to revoke licenses or
contract of disobedient companies no matter who owns the
companies," he added. (gis)