Strict Sanctions Are Absolute Given To SVLK Offenders

Dynamic Coordinator of the Independent Embassy’s Monitoring Network (JPIK) Muhamad Kosar said that he found industrial companies that received logs without the implementation of the timber legality verification system (SVLK). Therefore, the government must tighten supervision and provide strict sanctions for companies that have been proven to violate.

Search results conducted by JPIK, Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI), Community Initiative Study and Development Group (KSPPM), and the Archipelago Indigenous Peoples Alliance (AMAN) in the North Maluku region found that there were still non-compliance with permit holders towards SVLK implementation, especially in provinces North Sumatra, North Kalimantan and North Maluku.

“The provision of strict sanctions against companies that violate SVLK rules is absolutely applied by the government, both companies that move upstream and downstream,” Kosar said in Jakarta yesterday.

He asserted that the industrial plantation company PT Adindo Hutani Lestari in North Kalimantan had committed SVLK violations. In the concession, the company cut down and cleared land which was a deep peat area.

“Land clearing in deep peat areas and logging practices in protected areas clearly violates SVLK rules,” Kosar said. Not only that, the company is indicated to have grabbed community land due to boundary clarity and not through free prior and informed consent (FPIC).

The same thing was revealed by Fathul Barri, FWI campaigner. He said, indications of violations were also found in the timber supply and distribution chain to the downstream level, namely the primary wood industry. One of the companies identified was PT Panca Usaha Palopo Plywood located in Luwu Regency, South Sulawesi.

The largest timber industry company in Sulawesi is strongly suspected of receiving wood supplies from sources that do not have legality. Mufti added, the source of the wood came from the PT Mohtra Agung Persada logging company in Central Halmahera Regency, North Maluku.

Data on the realization of the Industrial Raw Material Fulfillment Plan (RPBBI) until November 2015 showed that PT Panca Usaha Palopo Plywood still received timber from PT Mohtra Agung Persada totaling 10,155.11 cubic meters. This of course shows the weakness of the supervision system regarding the circulation of logs applied by the government.

“The RPBBI document owned by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry should be able to maintain that only timber from legal sources must be consumed by industry,” said Mufti.

He added, the conversion of natural forest without the SVLK carried out by PT Mohtra Agung Persada would cause conflict and a negative impact on the carrying capacity of the environment in Central Halmahera. It also acknowledged the difficulty of access to information related to company activities as a major obstacle to supervision from the community.

“Information disclosure in forest management is the key so that people know which legal and illegal company activities are,” said Mufti. Therefore, he urged the government to immediately supervise and enforce the law against companies that violate the SVLK, stop the conversion of natural forest and peat land and facilitate the settlement of conflicts between communities and companies.