Toba Pulp to boost community program

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.