P

ekanbaru: Former Kampar regent Burhanuddin Husein stood trial at the Pekanbaru Corruption Court on Monday for a graft case that reportedly cost the state an estimated Rp 519.58 billion (US$55.07 million).

Burhanuddin was the Riau Forestry Agency head when he allegedly abused his authority in issuing permits to 12 companies to extract timber in natural forests operating in Pelalawan and Siak regencies.

The prosecutors deemed the issuance to be in contravention of a forestry ministerial decree on annual working plans (RKT).

“He knew that the RKT submitted by the companies included plans to log in natural forests with a potential of more than 5 cubic-meters of wood per hectare. According to regulations, that type of forest cannot be logged, but the defendant issued permits anyway,” prosecutorial team head Mochamad Rum said during the reading of the indictment.

Burhanuddin is facing a maximum sentence of 20 years.