Cleanup planned for corrupt Indonesian timber industry

  • 25/07/1999

Indonesia's poorly managed forestry industry is being targeted by the Central government for major reforms, though environmentalists and other industry observers say a government crackdown is likely to lead to an increase in illegal trade in timber and the devastation of more of the nation's badly ravaged forests. Environmentalists and industrial observers suspect the government's tough stance is mainly aimed at pleasing the International Monetary Fund, which has insisted that the nation's forestry industry improve as part of the IMF-led $43 billion bailout plan.