Rizky Amelia – A leading antigraft watchdog has highlighted corruption in Indonesia's natural resources sector as an "unlimited" font of ill-gotten wealth that will only run dry when the precious resources have been completely exhausted.
Tama Satrya Langkun, a researcher with Indonesia Corruption Watch, said on Sunday that while other forms of corruption, such as embezzling funds from regional budgets, could realistically be ended, this was not true of resource-related graft in the forestry and mining sectors.
"The embezzlement of regional budgets can be tackled, I'm sure of that. When the money runs out, the corruption ends. But with natural resources, it doesn't end until the resources have run out, which is what makes it an essentially unlimited form of corruption," he said.
He cited claims by activists that losses from corruption in the forestry sector had boomed from Rp 7 billion ($709,000) in 2003 to Rp 273 trillion in 2011.
The claims were first made last week by a group calling itself the Anti-Forestry Mafia Coalition, and which includes ICW, based on data published last year by the Forestry Ministry.
Wilmar Tumpak Hutabarat, a representative for the coalition, said the figure of Rp 273 trillion stemmed from possible irregularities or infractions in the issuance of permits for 727 plantations and 1,722 mining sites in just seven provinces.
Wilmar said the biggest potential losses were recorded in Central Kalimantan, at Rp 158 trillion, followed by West Kalimantan at Rp 47.5 trillion, East Kalimantan at Rp 31.5 trillion and South Kalimantan at Rp 9.6 trillion.
He added that a separate estimate by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) had pegged the combined potential losses from corruption in the forestry sector in those four provinces at no less than Rp 15.9 trillion a year.
The coalition submitted its claim about the losses to the KPK last Friday, demanding a thorough investigation into all forms of corruption in the forestry, plantations and mining sectors.
"When we met with the KPK leaders, we discussed five cases in particular and presented our findings about the various means of corruption," Tama said.
He added that the five cases highlighted accounted for an estimated Rp 1.9 trillion in losses. He also said the coalition had linked a spike in the number of suspect concessions being approved to the run-up for elections, and warned that there could be another surge in forestry-related graft ahead of next year's polls.
"In 2009, which was an election year, there was a more than 200 percent increase in the number of permits issued for coal mining and plantation operations," Tama said.
"That's something we have to keep an eye on, because it seems that national political developments can open the door to companies to plunder the country's natural resources."
He added that in addition to the companies believed to be at fault in the five cases brought to the KPK, the coalition also reported the involvement of "certain ministers regarding the land use changes of forest areas."
"There are three ministers involved, as well as five district heads, one ministry official, one regional administration official and six company directors," he said, but declined to identify them.
Tama also called into question the commitment of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to crack down on environmental crimes, in spite of the government having recently extended a moratorium on issuing concessions in primary and peat forests.
"The substance of the moratorium itself is fine, but it's the enforcement that is lacking," he said.
He claimed it was no secret that regional administration had continued to issue new mining, logging and plantation permits for off-limits areas even after the moratorium had gone into force in May 2011.
He attributed the blame for these violations not just to the regional authorities, but also to the forestry, home affairs and energy and mineral resources ministries, for what he called their lack of oversight in the matter.
"It's the home minister's job to monitor what governors and district chiefs are doing. Whoever is issuing these permits has to be scrutinized," he said.
By taking a stronger line on enforcing the moratorium, Tama went on, the Yudhoyono administration could show that it was serious about its commitment to protecting the environment.
He also urged the administration to make good on its other commitments under the moratorium, saying that it had only fulfilled one of the three key points, which was to draw up a unified map of areas protected under the terms of the policy.
He said the other two points, to improve the concession-issuing process and to review permits already handed out, had not yet been adequately addressed.
The government insists that it is committed to the spirit of the moratorium, but notes that the authority to issue mining, logging and plantation permits rests with regional authorities, and that under the principles of regional autonomy, the central government has little say in how local authorities exercise their power.
However, Tama said this should not justify the proliferation of forestry violations or the dearth of law enforcement in the field, and took issue with police and prosecutors for not treating forestry crimes as seriously as other offenses.
"The fact is that the KPK treats corruption in the forestry sector quite seriously. But the problem is that the police and prosecutors don't," he said.
He added that the KPK was currently investigating seven separate cases involving major alleged forestry crimes, whereas the other two law enforcement institutions had no such cases in their sights, and if anything, tended to take a hard line against environmental activists.
"There are many cases in the field where they've gone after activists, and there have been several reports of activists being assaulted or criminalized for flagging forestry crimes," Tama said.
One of the forestry cases that the KPK is currently probing involves the issuance of logging permits in Riau by the province's governor, Rusli Zainal.
Rusli was taken into custody last Friday after being charged with taking a bribe in that case, as well as two other counts of corruption in a separate bid-rigging case centered on the construction of facilities for the National Games in Pekanbaru, the provincial capital, last year.