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.