Weak law enforcement blamed for rampant illegal logging

Weak law enforcement blamed for rampant illegal logging

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The absence of strict measures and weak law enforcement have been
blamed for rampant illegal logging, which causes US$12 billion in
annual losses to the state.

Despite frequent nationwide exposure to the problem in the
mass media, illegal logging continues not only in forests but
mainly in national parks and protected areas under the noses of
security personnel.

According to data from The Jakarta Post, illegal logging has
been rampant in Gunung Leuser National Park in Aceh, Kerinci
Seblat National Park, located in the provinces of West Sumatra,
Jambi, Riau, South Sumatra and Bengkulu, Mulawarman National Park
in South Kalimantan and Roro Lindu in Central Sulawesi following
the economic crisis that hit Asia in 1997.

The Jambi provincial administration has deployed local police
officers to help the forest police unit apprehend illegal
loggers, but this action had yet to produce any results.

Jambi Governor Zulkiffli Nurdin said he received many
complaints about rife illegal logging in Kerinci Seblat National
Reserve, but no measures had been taken yet to stop it.

The national reserve, covering 1.48 million hectares in four
provinces, is home to a large number of rare species of flora and
fauna.

He said local forestry officials and the authorities in the
four provinces must take firm action against all sides involved
in looting the forests. "The presence of sawmills near the
national park is an indication that they are getting their raw
material from the park," he said.

Antara reported on Friday that the local prosecutor's office
in Muara Bulian in Jambi was fighting for the return of 23 trucks
loaded with a total of 400 cubic meters of illegal logs, which
were confiscated by local police for not having the necessary
documents last month.

The local police have arrested only the drivers of the
vehicles, while PT Citra Getar Alam president Memeng, the alleged
owner of the illegal logs, was still at large.

Maman Lukman, the chief of the South Sumatra office of state-
owned PT Inhutani and staff member Yaniri are facing prosecution
for their alleged involvement in illegal logging.

Antara also reported on Friday that the prosecutor's office in
East Tanjung Jabung Regency had yet to bring to court PT Mitra
Alam Indonesia, which was found guilty by local police for
cutting down trees outside its concession.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Kokot Indarto, chief of East Tanjung Jabung
Police, said that the police had confiscated thousands of cubic
meters of logs, which were allegedly stolen by the timber company
outside its concession in the regency.

The company is jointly owned by local timber businessman Apiu,
38, and a former regent of the regency.

Southeast Sulawesi Governor Kaimoeddin Panulele said the
authorities should arrest timber businessmen believed to have
deployed forest squatters to loot forest reserves in the
province.

He said that the provincial administration no longer had the
power to prosecute illegal loggers because the authorities were
in a power struggle with the regents over the regional autonomy
legislation.

According to reports from The Jakarta Post in Irian Jaya,
illegal loggers have conspired with security personnel to ship
timber out of the province.

Law enforcers, especially the local police, the tax and excise
office and government prosecutors, have been reluctant to
prosecute local businessmen involved in illegal logging because
they were allegedly backed up by Army and Navy personnel.

State Minister of Research and Technology Hatta Radjasa said
early this week that Indonesia came in second after Brazil for
supplying logs to the international market, but 70 percent of
those exported came from illegal logging.

"There is a strong indication that illegal logging is still
rife and the government has yet to act optimally to curb the
looting of forests," he said.

Hatta said illegal logging had contributed to the haze problem
since many deforested areas were burned for converting them into
farmland and plantations.

Budy P. Resosudarmo, a researcher for the Australian National
University, criticized the government for its failure to take
stern action against illegal logging, which was costing the
country $12 billion annually.

He did not elaborate on Indonesia's annual wood exports or
their value, but said 70 percent of Indonesia's wood on the
international market came from illegal logging.

He said that the government had not responded to numerous
sides' great concern over the poor condition of forests.

"Illegal logging will continue amid the poor forestry
management, which has been caused by a tug-of-war between the
central government and local administrations under regional
autonomy," Antara quoted him as saying in Canberra.

He said the House of Representatives should pass a law giving
regencies the full authority to control forests.