Jakarta – Indonesia has admitted failure in meeting forestry protection commitments to its key donor group, the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI), weeks before a CGI meeting in Jakarta, a report said Tuesday.
"It's our own fault. How could we have set such unrealistic targets?" newly-installed forestry minister Marzuki Usman was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying after a meeting with forest concession holders.
The CGI pledged 4.8 billion dollars to Indonesia at its annual meeting in Tokyo last October, in return for more reforms in finance and governance from President Abdurrahman Wahid's government.
Among the reforms Jakarta pledged at last year's Tokyo CGI meeting were eight key steps for saving its forests, in response to CGI members' concern at rampant deforestation.
They included combatting illegal logging and unlicensed sawmills, accelerating forest resources assessment and a moratorium on forest conversion. Also pledged was a cutback of wood-processing industries, closing heavily-indebted timber companies and enhancing sustainable forest management.
Asked whether future CGI loans were in danger as a result of defaulting on the commitments, Usman replied: "Just wait and see". He added negotiations were ongoing.
The ministry's recently-sacked secretary general Suripto complained to a donor meeting in Jakarta last October that the fight against illegal logging was being hampered by other government agencies.
Suripto said he had provided the police with reports on 14 illegal logging barons, but no action had been taken.
He said the customs office and neighbouring countries were also being uncooperative, citing Malaysia's acceptance of smuggled illegal logs as legal once Malaysian tax had been paid.
Suripto was sacked last week, in the wake of President Abdurrahman Wahid's sacking of Nurmahmudi Ismail as forestry minister. Wahid cited Suripto's retirement age and Ismail's ineffectiveness in running the forestry ministry as reasons for their dismissals.
Chief economics minister Rizal Ramli said newly empowered regional government chiefs had been competing with each other since decentralisation to convert forest land into concessions. "This will be very dangerous," Ramli was quoted as saying by the state Antara newsagency.
A World Bank briefing paper for last October's CGI meet described illegal logging in Indonesia as a flourishing business, bigger than the legal industry.
It was estimated that Indonesia was losing 650 million dollars annually in royalty and reforestation fund repayments as well as 1.8 million hectares of forest. Indonesia has 113 million hectares of rainforest area, including 49 million hectares in protected areas.
CGI representatives will hold a preparatory meeting in Jakarta from April 21 to 24 ahead of making fresh loan commitments. Ramli said last week that forest management would be a "crucial issue" on the donor group's agenda.