Toba Pulp to boost community program

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Pulp and paper company PT Toba Pulp Lestari pledged to boost its spending on community development to help improve the welfare of local villagers, particularly those living near its pulp mill.

"We will adopt a new approach to running the company," president commissioner Dedi Sutanto told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Toba Pulp Lestari was previously known as PT Inti Indorayon Utama, whose pulp mill in Porsea, North Sumatra, was shut down in 2000 by the administration of Abdurrahman Wahid amid widespread protest from local people and environmentalists over environmental destruction.

Dozens of people were killed in a series of demonstrations staged to oppose the presence of the company.

But the government has recently decided to let the company resume operations at the pulp mill.

Indorayon, founded by businessman Sukamto Tanoto of the Radja Garuda Mas Group in 1986, holds rights to some 269,060 hectares of pine forest in the regencies of Dairi, Simalungun, North Tapanuli and South Tapanuli in North Sumatra.

The company, which started commercial production in 1989, has the capacity to produce 240,000 metric tons of pulp, in addition to 60,000 tons of rayon fiber, per year.

Its pulp and paper products were exported to European countries, Japan and the U.S.

Meanwhile, environmentalists protested against the government's decision to allow the company to reopen its pulp mill.

Ompu Monang, chairman of local people's grouping Toba-Batak Forum (Parbato), criticized the policy, saying that the central government was not listening to the aspirations of the people.

"The government must be held responsible for any negative impacts in the future," he said.

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) also opposed the government's policy.

Director of Walhi Effendi Panjaitan said the decision to allow the company to resume operations was actually against President Megawati Soekarnoputri's previous speech in Bali, which urged the nation to stop exploiting forests.

"We will continue to join hands with local people to oppose the reopening of the Indorayon mill," Effendi told the Post.

Meanwhile, local police chief Ansyad Mbai said that he would take stern measures against any agitators trying to disturb the operations of the pulp mill.

"This (the reopening of the plant) is a government decision, so I will be responsible for securing the operations of Indorayon," he told The Post.

Elsewhere, Dedi said that the company was now primarily focusing on internal consolidation measures.

"We (the board of commissioners) will visit Porsea for internal consolidation purposes, and after that will focus on implementing the community development program," he said.