Tracing large-scale illegal logging business in Kalimantan
Tracing large-scale illegal logging business in Kalimantan
By Edi Petebang
PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan (JP): Under a scorching sun and in
the presence of a number of West Kalimantan provincial officials,
containers containing timber from the KM Clover were pried open
on May 5 by activists from the local branch of the Indonesian
Students Front and a number of other NGOs.
Of the 42 containers onboard the vessel, only seven had the
necessary legal documents. The timber was going to be exported to
Singapore. The smuggling attempt was foiled by the student
activists after they had taken hostage of HJ Tamtelahi, head of
Pontianak Customs and Excise Office; Hapsoro Rahardjo and
Soenarno of West Kalimantan forestry office; Captain Salehuddin,
the port administrator; Captain Zainuddin, seaport section head;
and A. Wahid of the port security unit.
It was the first time ever that an attempt to smuggle timber
had been foiled. In fact, the illegal timber business is a public
secret in West Kalimantan. Timber smuggling is only a part of a
large illegal logging businesses.
To trace the business, one must start from the tree felling
and document processing stage. It is in these two links in the
chain that dirty logging business is practiced.
Logs are considered illegal if they are not accompanied by
necessary documents or if the wood comes from illegal loggers
with no forest concessions.
Illegal logging in Kalimantan is either performed
traditionally or non-mechanically, semimechanically or fully
mechanically.
Individual loggers opt for the traditional method and the wood
they target is belian/ulin hardwood and meranti. Usually they
will be given one or two chain saws and meal allowances of
between Rp 1 million and Rp 2 million by a cukong (a financier in
an illegal practice). With approximately Rp 10 million, which
includes operational costs, you can begin an illegal logging
business.
Most of the chain saw operators are locals living close to the
forest. To them this is their way of earning a living. "We do not
steal timber. This is our wood because we were raised and live in
the forest. We guard this area, in fact. So are we to blame if we
also collect the wood?" said Manum, one of the chain saw
operators in Ketapang district.
These people usually sell their timber to sawmill companies,
which are found along the Kapuas River, Mahakam River, Landak
River, Pawan River and other major waterways in Kalimantan. Do
they get rich because of this activity? No. Instead, they owe
money to the cukong, who is the one that gets richer and richer.
The second type of illegal logging is done in a semimechanical
way. This time the cukong are the sawmill owners. Many of them do
not have any forest concessions and therefore they have to obtain
all their timber illegally. These sawmills also get supplies of
timber from other provinces and even from Malaysia.
Theft
Mechanical illegal logging is done by forest concessionaires.
In every forest concessionaire's basecamp/logpond and sawmill,
there is a supervisor from the Ministry of Forestry and
Plantations. He is assigned to legalize the annual work plan and
log transportation certificates and check the quantity, type, and
size of the timber felled.
The document mentions the quantity, the type and the size of
the timber and to whom it is being sent to. Usually the types and
the diameters of the trees permitted to be felled will be faked.
This document is important because the amount of the Forest
Product Contribution Fee and the Reforestation Fund payable will
be based on the data contained in it. It also sets forth the time
taken to transport the timber from the basecamp to the sawmill to
ensure that the volume of the timber does not increase during the
journey.
It is at this point that a forestry official and a
concessionaire are involved in collusion. Usually the quantity
put down on the document is smaller than the real figure so that
the amounts of fees to be paid is also smaller.
Apart from this practice, they may also prepare a number of
blank forms, which will be used to purchase illegal timber during
the journey from the basecamp to the sawmill. That is why the
time mentioned on the document is usually longer than it actually
is.
The forestry official can also be hand in glove with the
concessionaires regarding the annual work plan. If a forestry
official of a higher rank happens to conduct a site inspection,
he will only be taken to the logpond or basecamp, where he will
receive favorable reports and a bribe. That is why no action is
taken against illegal logging going on outside forest concession
areas.
At a sawmill, the forestry official will check whether data of
the transported timber matches that given on the document. Here,
there is again collusion between him and the forest
concessionaire.
Another collusive practice occurs when forest concessionaires
purchase timber from illegal loggers, who usually do not bother
about the legal document, arguing that obtaining this piece of
paper involves a time-consuming process.
After the timber is processed, collusive and illegal practices
occur again when it is going to be exported. According to Naib
Tappi, a member of the West Kalimantan legislation assembly,
there are at least two kinds of timber smuggling that go on
through a seaport. First, physically smuggling the timber and
secondly, "administrative smuggling".
The former is easy to detect while the latter is not because
it is usually neatly arranged and involves certain personnel in
the customs and excise office, transportation company, the port
administration, sailing companies, the harbormaster and the sea,
river and coastal security forces.
Why are illegal logging and timber smuggling so rampant in
West Kalimantan? "West Kalimantan is indeed a fertile ground for
these practices," said a timber businessman in Pontianak.
What he means is that the area is suitable for such practices
because the forest areas are vast, the transportation easy and
certain government officials quite willing to engage in collusive
practices.
In the case of the MV Clover, out of 35 illegal containers, 16
belonged to CV Brata, a company which is under the auspices of
the police's Brata Bakti Foundation. Despite a denial by the West
Kalimantan Police, the fact that CV Brata is involved only
confirms the suspicion that security apparatuses are involved in
illegal logging practices.