The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A leading environmental organization has praised police action against a company accused of illegal logging, but says it wants the authorities to take a harder line against the crime in the future.
The Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) said the organization supported National Police chief Gen. Sutanto in setting up a police line around the production area of PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) after the company was suspected of illegal logging practices.
"This is what we have been waiting for. PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper has been exploiting the natural forest in Riau," Chalid Muhammad, the national executive director of Walhi, told reporters Friday.
"We hope the police will follow up this move by charging the company's directors as suspects," Chalid said, adding that the police chief should be consistent and not be afraid of officials who might be backing the company.
Troy Pantouw, PT RAPP's public relations manager, declined to comment on Walhi's accusations.
But he said that PT RAPP had always been careful in conducting its business and had always obeyed the government's regulations, including those on logging.
"Our company will be cooperative with the police and the authorities regarding the matter," Troy said when asked about the police's move to restrict the company's activities in Riau.
A coalition from the police's head office and the directorate general of forestry banned operations at the factory area of the company in Pangkalan Kerinci, Pelalawan regency in Riau on Thursday last week, Detik.com news portal reported.
PT Riau Pulp and Paper is a subsidiary of the Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings group, owned by Sukanto Tanoto, who is listed as Indonesia's wealthiest man by Forbes magazine.
Johny S. Mundung, Walhi executive director in Riau, also said that the police had made a big move against PT RAPP, one of the biggest pulp and paper players in the country.
He added that it was nothing new for the pulp and paper industry to use illegal logs from the country's forests.
According to Walhi, the pulp and paper industry in the country needs up to 27.71 million cubic meters of wood per year, some 80 percent of which comes from forests instead of industrial plantations.
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