Jakarta – A corruption watchdog is urging the nation's antigraft agency to investigate corruption allegations against the forestry industry in Kalimatan, which the group says cost the state Rp 9.1 trillion (US$1 billion).
The Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said that local officials in Central Kalimantan and West Kalimantan might have illegally granted business permits to several companies to enrich themselves.
They allegedly allowed companies to use forest area for agriculture – especially palm oil plantations – despite the fact that the land was not meant for agriculture, ICW legal affairs coordinator Febri Diansyah said before submitting the group's findings to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Monday.
He added that violations also occurred when companies used the forest area for agriculture without a full permit to operate there.
The ICW said its findings were based on a 10-month study in the Sambas, Ketapang and Bengkayan regencies in West Kalimantan, as well as Seruyan regency in Central Kalimantan.
Febri said that the ICW's estimation of Rp 9.1 trillion in state losses came from calculating the number of felled trees and the money needed to restore the forests that should not have been used in such a way.
The ICW said that the KPK should take these allegations seriously, as the KPK had promised to combat corruption in the nation's forestry sector. "Corruption in the [forestry] sector has cause a huge loss to the state," the group said.
Febri said the government should review the issued forest concessions and put an end to anything that it found amiss with the issuances.
The ICW's report was supported by Save Our Borneo, and the Indonesian Forum for the Environment.
The report identified at least seven companies that allegedly converted forested areas into palm oil plantations in West Kalimantan.
ICW member Donal said the companies' initials were PT I.S.K., PT U.A.I., PT K.M.P., PT W.H.S., PT W.D.B.P. and PT L.L. "They could be charged for violating Forestry Ministry bylaw No. 259/2000 about forest designation authority," Donal said.
He added that Central Kalimantan saw a slightly different form of corruption than West Kalimantan. "A local government official with the initials D.A. is allegedly creating 'dummy' companies to get forest concessions," Donal said.
He said that further investigation revealed that the companies were owned by relatives of the local government corruption culprits. There were at least 15 companies in Central Kalimantan that illegally managed 211.580 hectares of forest, according to the ICW. (rpt)