PRESS RELEASE
QUESTIONING RIMBUNAN HIJAU'S CONDUCT IN
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
East New Britain Province's Devastation to be Complete by the Year
2000 Written by Ecological Enterprises August 29, 1993
For three weeks in late June and early July of 1993; Ecological
Enterprises, a Papua New Guinea and United States based rainforest
preservation group, had the pleasure of working in East New
Britain; home to a number of active volcanoes and an incredibly
diverse ecosystem. However, East New Britain is also one of the
province most at threat by logging, with sixteen operations now
operating or soon to commence.
Local people are organizing to rise to the challenge; notably, the
Pacific Heritage Foundation and the East New Britain Social Action
Committee. Both are groups which have emerged from within the
experiences and perceptions of the local community after years of
abuse from damaging heavy logging.
The Pacific Heritage Foundation, a Papua New Guinea (PNG) based
non-governmental organization, estimates that PNG's "massive
forest resource will be effectively wiped out in far less than one
generation." The demise of East New Britain's timber resource
may come much earlier, perhaps by as soon as the end of the
century. "The scale of the plunder is beyond historical
comparison," states the Pacific Heritage Foundation. Over the
past 12 months, New Britain Island alone has seen 1000 pieces of
logging equipment unloaded. Most have been transported by
Malaysian timber operators from Sarawak, where the timber supply
is rapidly dwindling.
An East New Britain Forestry officer states most of the landowners
he sees are "only worried about cash, not how life effected in
future. We have experienced alot of destruction, there is not
proper control." The same officer explained the massive forest
problems as follows: "They (the timber companies) don't go through
the forestry department to get approval. Instead, they go direct
to landowners, bribe them to get the minimum of approval. The
company then turns around and makes demands on the Forestry
Department."
With sixteen logging operations, the East New Britain Forestry
Department says that by 2000 or 2005, East New Britain will have
no forests left. The Forestry Department has a staff of thirty
officers to monitor these operations. However, they have only 3
vehicles to do so. Often the company takes them to the site to
monitor, severely restricting movement and only showing them
places with little adverse environmental impact.
East New Britain Province does not have a Provincial Forestry Act,
which in some provinces, such as Manus, has shown potential to cut
National Government determined logging quotas to more sustainable
levels through specific sustainable cut requirements. Such a
Forestry Act had been passed by the Provincial Assembly in March
1992, but immediately thereafter, landowners were flown in by the
logging giant Rimbunan Hijau to lobby against it. Most of the
landowners came from the Pomio area, which is seeing some of the
heaviest logging in PNG history. Rimbunan Hijau, which does over
USD1 Billion in business a year in PNG, chartered planes, paid for
hotels and transport. As a result, the Provincial Forestry Act
was quickly repealed and is no longer in place.
MORE--THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL
COSTS TO EAST NEW BRITAIN
The East New Britain Social Action Committee reports that vast
areas of forest land is being degraded and destroyed, never to
return to their original species mix. They, and numerous others,
have documented that logging and skidding is taking place along
streams and rivers and on slopes greater than 30 degrees.
Restricted species are being logged and exported. Many under size
trees are being cut. An estimated 30-40% of the ground area is
being compacted by bulldozers. Water courses are also being
blocked, causing redirection of the flow. All these practices are
illegal under current PNG legislation.
During Ecological Enterprises' patrols, we visited many actual
logging sites, distributing awareness materials and putting on our
slide show which details the changes that have accompanied
industrial logging in other countries and provinces. One such
area that we campaigned in, Kerawara Logging in Worangoi, has been
well studied by the East New Britain Social Action Committee, and
clearly illustrates the failure of Malaysian logging companies on
nearly every measure of performance.
Kerawara Logging has 49 non-citizen personnel working as bulldozer
operators, cooks, etc. Following logging, cocoa is to be planted,
but severe soil degradation as a result of improper logging makes
this highly unlikely. Employee conditions are atrocious, with
five nationals living in a 6x6 bush material shed. They have no
toilet or washing areas, no drinking water, and no mosquito nets.
Nearby, an oil tank is leaking into the area's major river.
Logging is being carried out right into rivers, which is blocking
the flow.
The operation is supposed to export 14,900 cubic meter per year,
yet by June, half way through the year, they had already cut
16,000 cubic meteres. The East New Britain Social Action
Committee has photos of rosewood being marked as yellow hardwood
and other rare species, of which PNG restricts export, being
labeled incorrectly. When they tried to discuss the matter with
the company management, a K300 (USD 315) bribe was offered and
later turned over the police as evidence of corruption.
Ecological Enterprises also visited the Gar and Senbam Extension
timber area, which is being logged by a subsidiary of Rimbunan
Hijau. The Senban area was found by the Conservation Needs
Assessment, a recent scientific investigation into areas of high
biodiversity in PNG, to be the most biologically diverse area in
East New Britain. Unfortunately, such studies do little to save
such diversity.
Together at approximately 30,000 hectares, this relatively small
logging area just obtained 65 more pieces of heavy machinery, far
more than needed for an area this size. Logging on slopes over 30
degrees and along river banks was clearly evident. Streams and
rivers were very heavily silted, even though the area is
supposedly being "selectively" logged. We were told by numerous
local people that wildlife, which is still the primarly means of
obtaining protein, was severely threatened. Shockingly, the
company is logging outside of its approved boundaries.
There has been little economic benefit to East New Britain from
this project. Landowners are receiving USD4.20 per cubic meter
for their top quality tropical hardwoods which are worth hundreds
of times more. Workers are paid USD50 per fortnight, working 12
hour days. One worker reported doing a triple shift. The ten
logging trucks carried from Malaysia are uninsured and not
registered. The Malaysian drivers have no licenses. Food stuffs
are imported from Malaysia.
Forestry officers, many of which were as stunned by what was
occurring in East New Britain as we were, summed up Rimbunan
Hijau's conduct as follows: "They (Rimbunan Hijau) have been
given free access to our forests without much screening. A new
company should have past record looked at, by their's was not.
Lack of reforestation and their falling behind on infrastructural
and environmental requirements has meant they have not yet proven
they are genuine developers."
###ENDS###
For more information contact:
Glen Barry Ecological Enterprises 2701 University Avenue, B-368
Madison, WI 53705
U.S.A.
(608) 233 2194 Work (608) 233 2194 or (608) 231 2312 Faxes
switpi@igc.apc.org Email