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Versi Bahasa Indonesia |
Problems with the chip mill project include a conflict over land between the company and local people, which arose in mid-2005. Problems over compensation for community land have still not been resolved, bringing hardship to the people living in the villages surrounding the chip mill site. Another problem relates to employment at the mill. PT MAL had promised to take a high percentage of its workforce from the villages near the site, but only a few local people were actually taken on during recruitment in July and the majority of successful applicants came from outside the area. The company's excuse was that local people did not possess the necessary skills or education to work at the mill. This caused disappointment among the community, because, according to community sources, the company had previously made a commitment to employ local youths.
People from the five villages near the project site (Ale Ale, Sungai Bahim, Sungai Bulan, Teluk Sirih and Tanjung Seloka) are also disappointed in the company's lack of transparency. PT MAL has failed to provide information about the mill under construction and has neither invited them to participate in the company's environmental impact analysis nor circulated any information about the EIA to them.
UFS has never properly backed up its claims about the supply of raw materials for the chip mill. The company says it has 50,000 hectares of 'tree plantations' to supply raw materials - these are actually plantations managed by state forestry company PT Inhutani II. In reality these plantations in Semaras only cover 29,141 hectares. Moreover, they form part of the area which supplies raw materials to the PT Kiani Kertas pulp mill in East Kalimantan, and so cannot possibly support the chip mill's planned production capacity of 600,000 tonnes per year.
In addition to these community problems, there is the matter of the chip mill's legal status. The company does not yet have a licence from the forestry minister to construct the chip mill; it only has a 'Nuisance Act' permit (Izin HO) for the port, issued by the Kotabaru district head, yet it has started constructing the mill. However, wood processing factories with a capacity of more than 6000m3 per year must obtain a permit from the forestry minister plus governor's recommendation, via the provincial forestry service. Because of this requirement, the South Kalimantan regional environmental protection office rejected the EIA submitted by PT MAL.
Due to these problems, WALHI South Kalimantan is calling for construction of the mill to stop. The manipulation surrounding this project is such that it is possible that natural forests will be used to supply the raw materials. The company has failed to abide by the law - a symptom of the same problem which has caused crises in the forests and the environment: the abuse of the law through economic power and political conspiracy.
Contact:
Berry Nahdian Forqan (Executive Director, WALHI South Kalimantan)
Mobile : +628125110979
Deddy Ratih (Campaign and Policy Manager, WALHI South Kalimantan)
Mobile : +6281349127712
WALHI South Kalimantan
Jl. Nuri no. 4, Rt. 01 Banjarbaru, Kode Pos 70711
Kalimantan Selatan.
Phone : (0511) 7473830 Email : walhikalsel@indo.net.id
Website : www.walhikalsel.org
Fax: (0511) 4780814
[Translated from the original Indonesian by DTE]