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)