[Kabar-indonesia] 3 Illegal Logging Reports: Ex-General Escapes Arrest [+Aid Agencies/Timber]

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

also: 2 JP reports: Activists to monitor illegal logging cases; 
and Don't pay partners for timber, aid agencies told 
 
The Jakarta Post
Monday, July 10, 2006

Search on for general in logging case 

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police have lost contact with a former two-star Army general mistakenly 
reported arrested last week for alleged involvement in illegal logging, East 
Kalimantan 
Police detectives chief Sr. Comr. Herry Prastowo said Sunday.

"The police will take forceful measures only if the suspect refuses to hand 
himself over. If necessary, we will name him to the police wanted list and 
issue a travel ban for him," Herry was quoted by Antara newswire as saying of 
Major Gen. (ret) Gusti Syaifuddin. 

Commenting on speculation Gusti was not arrested because of his powerful 
background, Herry said he had been cooperative for most of the investigation, 
including meeting all summons for questioning. 

But the police have been unable to trace Gusti's whereabouts since they 
issued a warrant for his arrest and that of two other company directors allegedly 
involved in illegal logging in an East Kalimantan forest. 

"He suddenly cannot be contacted," he said. 

The police accuse Gusti, who is the director of PT Tunggul Buana Perkasa, 
Arifin of PT Putra Bulungan Sakti and Darul Hakim of CV. Sanggam Jaya Abadi of 
collaborating in misusing a license issued by the local government to develop an 
area of forest into an oil palm plantation. 

Instead of setting up the plantation, Gusti and his partners allegedly felled 
the trees in the area and sold them without permission to neighboring 
countries. 

They also allegedly trespassed 15 kilometers outside of the their concession 
area. 

"We found out that they cut down the trees but never planted any oil palms on 
the land," National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said last 
week. 

Arifin and Darul, who are both civilians, were arrested and have been 
detained at East Kalimantan Police Headquarters. 

If found guilty, the directors could receive up a 10-year prison term. 

Forest conversion practices, along with illegal logging, are blamed for 
Indonesia's high deforestation rate, which is currently estimated at 3.5 million 
hectares per year. Many forests are being converted into palm oil palm 
plantations, with planted areas soaring from 120,000 hectares in 1968 to 5.5 million 
hectares in 2004. 

National Police chief Gen. Sutanto and Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban expressed 
concern last week at the failure to prosecute illegal loggers. 

They noted that some had been acquitted and others received light sentences, 
including 18 defendants in a high-profile logging case in Papua. 

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The Jakarta Post
Monday, July 10, 2006

Activists to monitor illegal logging cases 

PADANG, West Sumatra: Activists are vowing to closely monitor how the 
authorities handle evidence of illegal logging in West Sumatra and plan to report 
officials suspected of colluding with loggers to central government agencies.

The activists from the Anti-Illegal-Logging Community said they would report 
errant judges to the Judicial Commission, prosecutors to the Attorney 
General's Office and ask the Corruption Eradication Commission to take over certain 
cases. 

Community coordinator Vino Oktavia said the West Sumatra Police had failed to 
deal seriously with illegal logging cases in the province. "The community has 
reported 21 cases of illegal logging going on in Mentawai (to the police) but 
only one case is being processed in court," he said. 

He said the police were also not following up other cases of illegal logging 
occurring in South Pesisir regency, including the discovery of more than 500 
forged timber certificates, and had not prosecuted those behind 20 containers 
of illegal timber confiscated at Tanjung Priok Port. Neither were they 
investigating those responsible for 224 containers seized at Padang's Teluk Bayur 
Port. 

"None of the suspects in these cases are being legally processed. That's why 
we judge that the West Sumatra Police have failed to stop illegal logging in 
the province," Vino said. 

The community was set up by 35 non-governmental organizations in West Sumatra 
and includes groups like Conservation International and the Indonesian Forum 
for the Environment. -- JP 

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The Jakarta Post
Monday, July 10, 2006

Don't pay partners for timber, aid agencies told 

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

The government is asking international organizations wishing to assist 
reconstruction work in tsunami-hit Aceh to no longer pay their local partners, 
including state agencies, to buy timber.

The Aceh-Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR) made the call 
during a timber marketplace event Friday organized with the World Wide Fund for 
Nature Indonesia and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red 
Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Medan. 

Agency programming and planning advisor for housing Kasru Susilo said the 
country had a limited supply of local timber to meet demand for reconstruction 
work. 

Kasru said the remaining forests in the country would soon disappear if the 
international groups relied on their partners to source timber. 

"Timber demand for reconstruction work in Aceh is very high. We are targeting 
to build 120,000 houses for tsunami survivors in Aceh, where a 
36-square-meter house will require around 1.7 cubic meters of wood. This would mean we will 
need more than 120,000 cubic meters of wood and it would be impossible to meet 
this demand with local timber." 

Instead, the wood should be directly sourced by international agencies and 
sent in from abroad, he said. 

The event was attended by more than 50 representatives from the Aceh 
provincial administration, the BRR, donor agencies, construction and banking experts 
and sustainable timber producers from Australia, Canada, Indonesia, New Zealand 
and the U.S. 

WWF-Indonesia executive director Mubariq Ahmad said based on information 
gathered by the group, the rate of illegal logging in the country had increased 
following the tsunami, especially in Aceh. 

"We estimate that 40 percent of local timber being used in reconstruction 
work here is likely to have been derived from illegal logging," said Mubariq. 

Data released by WWF-Indonesia and Conservation International Indonesia found 
only 30,000 cubic meters of sustainable timber had been sourced from abroad, 
with some 20,000 cubic meters to arrive in the province this year. 

Ralph Douglas, a construction consultant working for the British Red Cross, 
said the group has imported some 14,000 cubic meters of timber to speed up 
reconstruction work in Aceh. The group plans to build 3,591 houses in several 
areas in the province. 

Douglas said all timber used by the group for the reconstruction came from 
sustainable forests abroad. 

The prices of local and imported timber were not much different, he said. 
"But we doubt that the local timber quality will meet the specifications of the 
houses that need to be built, which the BRR has required should last 10 years." 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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