Treated wood for houses

JAKARTA (JP): The Association for Indonesian Timber Treatment has called on the government to issue a regulation requiring housing developers to use treated wood in their buildings and to impose penalties on violators.

Association secretary-general Bing Suharya said the Ministry of Public Housing promised that such a regulation would be issued in August but that it has not yet eventuated.

Currently, he said, only 10 percent of Indonesian housing developers use treated timber for their buildings.

In neighboring countries, such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, the use of such timber is already mandatory, he added.

He said the use of treated timber would benefit both consumers and the government because it would reduce the use of freshly logged timber -- and consequently promote sustainable forestry -- and help consumers to save money which would otherwise be spent on replacing untreated timber.

Bing said the cost of treating timber is only Rp 50,000 (US$22) per cubic meter, meaning an additional Rp 1,000 for each square meter of a low-cost house.(pwn)