Legal failings leave illegal loggers unpunished and certified in Indonesia
Illegal loggers in Indonesia continue to go largely unpunished because of a weak judicial system and loopholes in timber regulations, according to a new report.
The report by investigative NGOs EIA and Kaoem Telapak looked at law enforcement actions against more than 50 companies, most of them found to be trading in illegally logged merbau, a prized tropical hardwood, but evading prosecution.
The few companies and individuals prosecuted and found guilty in court were still allowed to operate and even retain their certificates of timber legality a stamp of approval that allows them to export the illegally logged wood.
Borneo wildfires put endangered orangutans under threat 04:58 (CNN)Last week, Indonesia s parliament passed a controversial and sweeping jobs law that environmentalists say will have a disastrous impact on the country s forests and rich biodiversity.
The omnibus jobs creation law was intended to simplify Indonesia s complex web of overlapping regulations to make it easier for companies to do business in the country. It includes changes to more than 70 laws across the labor, business and environmental sectors.
Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo has promised the law will help boost the country s ailing coronavirus-hit economy by cutting through red tape and bureaucracy to attract foreign investment and create jobs in Southeast Asia s largest economy.