T

he Forestry Ministry launched an online portal on Wednesday that will provide information on how to get permits for activities related to forestry.

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said the move was part of the reforms at his institution particularly aimed at providing certainty on the costs and duration of the license to be issued.

'€œIt is part of our effort to make our service more efficient, effective, transparent, accountable and participatory, in accordance with good corporate governance values,'€ said Zulkifli.

Previously, applicants had to process different requirements at different offices in the ministry, shuttling between directorates, with no certainty of processing time and cost. Under the new policy, applicants who live far from Jakarta and even those near the forests will get assistance from local forestry offices, said Zulkifli.

The ministry has also opened a dedicated booth in the office'€™s lobby for applicants who want to drop off documents.

The permits that can be processed through the portal include permits on the utilization of timber products (IUPHHK) in natural forests (IUPHHK-HA), in timber estates (IUPHHK-HTI) and eco-system restoration (IUPHHK-RE).

Forest area utilization permits (IPPKH) for mining and non-mining production and surveys or exploration can also be processed, as well as permits for conversion to production forest (HPK).

According to the portal, lpp.dephut.go.id, an IUPHHK application takes a maximum of 125 days to process, while a HPK can take a maximum of 187 days. As for costs, it says there are no fees charged for applications, although a fee is charged for the actual permit.

To obtain the permit requirements, however, applicants still need various documents from provincial and local administrations.

The website also offers daily updates on the number of permits being processed. As of Wednesday, there were 307 applications submitted with 181 applications being processed, 123 rejected and three approved.

Recently, there was a controversy over the Forestry Ministry'€™s plan to convert residential and industrial areas into a protected area in Batam, Riau Islands. The plan caused uncertainty among businesspeople in the municipality.

Indonesia was ranked at 128th position in this year'€™s World Bank annual '€œDoing Business 2013'€ survey '€” better than Bangladesh but worse than Ethiopia.

The report judged 185 countries on 10 criteria and compiled an index on the ease of doing business.

Despite an overall improvement, Indonesia dropped a number of spots in the '€œstarting business'€ and '€œdealing with construction permits'€ criteria, ranking 166th and 75th, respectively. (asw)