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.