Unchecked forest exploitation in Riau causes environmental damage
Unchecked forest exploitation in Riau causes environmental damage
By Yaunusar Bakar
PEKANBARU, Riau (Antara): Recently, police seized hundreds of
logs outside Bukit Batabuh National Park. Dozens of trucks were
also impounded along the Eastern Sumatra highways for carrying
logs above the maximum tolerable tonnage.
For people in Riau, there is nothing new about this. Local
mass media report similar cases almost every day.
In Riau, the forestry problem is complicated given the
business and social aspects involved in matters of land
ownership.
Local environmental groups such as Group for Conservation of
Natural Resources (KPSA) lay the blame for the widespread wood
theft in Riau on the unchecked growth of sawmill industry.
The business, mostly illegal, is almost all run by individuals
or companies other than those holding forest concessions. They
receive orders from anyone without questioning the legality of
the timber to be processed, says KSPA chief B. Tampubolon.
Such practices have given rise to unscrupulous people stealing
timber from the forest, including those protected by law. Bukit
Batabuh is known to have been badly affected.
The management of Bukit Batabuh National Park have
acknowledged the area is under serious threat. The unchecked
deforestation has threatened not only the forest but also the
buffer zones nearby.
The park has been surrounded by an increasing number of
sawmill companies. The forest authorities have listed 33 sawmill
companies there at present -- all hungry for wood.
"The authorities have lost count of how many times they have
raided wood theft and of how much timber they have seized during
the operations," Tampubolon says. "But there has been no sign
when the illegal practices will stop."
Not only is wood theft destroying the biodiversity-rich
forests but trucks overloaded with loot have turned roads into
streams of mud full of large potholes. It would cost the state a
lot of money to repair the roads which are endangering motorists.
Eastern highways connecting Pekanbaru, Pangkalan Kerinci,
Pematang Rebah and Indragiri Hulu have been riddled with
potholes. Accidents are a daily routine and many lives have been
lost, said Yurnalis Saiby, chairman of the Riau provincial office
in charge of highways and land transportation.
Yurnalis puts the blame for the deteriorating roads wholly on
overloaded trucks.
"We launch operations against the trucks every week but
violations continue. Many trucks operate as usual although they
have been impounded time and again," he says.
Handradjadi, chairman of the Riau provincial office of public
works has singled out PT. Indah Kiat Pulp and Paper (IKPP) and
PT. Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) as the biggest
contributors to the destruction of roads in Riau.
The two companies should take responsibility for the damage
because their overloaded trucks carrying logs to their respective
factories have ruined roads, Handradjadi said.
"It would need an estimated Rp 18 billion to repair the roads.
The companies should assist the government for the project," he
said.
Riau Deputy Governor of Economics and Development Rivaie
Rachman once threatened to close down the companies unless they
heeded the call to minimize the damage they've caused to the
roads.
The threat apparently sent a chill down their spine and so far
they have rendered Rp 1.5 billion to the repair project.
Truck drivers say that they have to carry more than the
maximum tonnage allowed by the government in order to get more
wages.
They say that if they carry logs at the legal capacity, they
will not earn enough to survive day by day because they are paid
on the basis of the quantity of timber they deliver.
The forestry issue is a vicious circle in Riau. It is highly
complicated. The long-standing problem is clear but no solution
is in sight.