Solomon Islands to Nationalise Malaysian-Dominated Logging Industry

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

http://forests.org/

4/22/98

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by EE

The Solomon Islands government has announced it will nationalise its

logging industry. It is not entirely clear what this means except

that the current industry dismantled in order to improve local control

over the resource and minimize environmental impact. This comes as

the industry has ground to a virtual stand still as a result of the

log market collapse driven by the East Asian economic crisis. Wow.

g.b.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Title: Solomon Islands to nationalise Malaysian-dominated logging

industry

Source: Agence France-Presse

Date: Wednesday, April 22, 1998

Byline: George Atkins

HONIARA, April 22 (AFP) - The Solomon Islands will nationalise its

logging industry long dominated by Malaysian companies, Forest

Minister Hilda Kari told parliament Wednesday.

She said the private logging industry had failed to ensure an

improvement in the living standards of forest resource owners in the

Pacific island state.

When the industry is nationalised it will be easier to ensure control

and sustainability of the environment, Kari said, and the government

would help the industry through sensitive budgeting.

Forest owners will need finance to obtain logging machinery and

equipment and they will need information and education on how to run

and manage logging.

The government's Timber Monitoring Unit, funded by Australian aid,

would help secure market outlets.

Asian companies, mainly Malaysian ones, had until this year been

running major logging operations throughout the largely pristine

Solomon's tropical forests.

Critics said the massive felling was causing major environmental

damage.

However with the Asian economic collapse, the logging industry here

has largely closed up.

Kari said the problem had been looming since 1993 with the forestry

ministry being flooded with applications for felling and milling

licences from resource owners who wished to operate in the same areas

foreigners held licences to operate.

The resource owners, she said, had finally realised they had been

ripped off and no longer needed foreign participation.

"Our nationalisation policy of the logging industry will address

this," the forest minister said.

Forest owners wanted maximum benefit from their resource.

"Now they have open eyes and see their trees and their land as their

wealth," she said.

Outsiders had paid crumbs through royalty payments. Kari said the

foreigners had lured resource owners into signing forestry application

forms knowing they would get some money.

But it was never enough and by the time the entire tribe had shared

the payments it was not enough to buy even a bag of rice.

The logging arrangements had never been conducive to Solomon Islands'

land tenure systems.

She accused the Solomon Islands Forest Industries Association, which

is dominated by foreign logging companies, of failing to work with

resource owners at village level.

She said they needed to recognise the industry belonged to the people

of the Solomon Islands.

"My ministry will review all the logging licences, held by both local

and foreign companies," she said.

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