Article Review: EIA Post about Ali Jambi

Have you heard of Ali Jambi?  Or perhaps you know him in other names? I had heard of him in 2007 and recently EIA made a special post about him and I summarize the post as below:

Who is Ali Jambi?

Tham Hai Lee, Jambi Lee, Jenggo, Hap Ali - who went from Indonesian timber smuggler to wealthy Singaporean business man. Born in Jambi, Indonesia 1969.

What is he famous for?

Controlled the ramin smuggling trade, making a fortune by ferrying the stolen wood across the Melaka Straits to Malaysia and Singapore. An agent define him “the ramin king”, earning his first million dollars by the time he was 30 and operating a fleet of 60 small wooden ships ferrying illegal timber from Sumatra. He was also said to hold a senior position in an organised crime gang.

What is Ramin?
Also know as Gonystylus, hardwood trees native in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, the Phillippines, and Papua New Guinea, highest species diversity on Borneo. Other names includes melawis (Malay) and ramin telur (Sarawak).

*Photo source: http://www.japanfocus.org/-Raffi-Khatchadourian/2918* 

Why is Ramin prohibited from harvesting?
Ramin is highly vulnerable to over exploitation, regenerates poorly and has never been successfully grown in plantations; illegal harvest practices destroy habitat, making population regeneration unlikely; ramin forests are also important habitat for orangutans and other endangered species.

What is ramin wood famous for?
The white wood, harder and lighter in colour than many other hardwoods, is often used in children's furniture, window blinds and making dowels. 

When was he (Ali Jambi) spotted / rumored?

In 2000, EIA was investigating rampant illegal logging of valuable ramin timber in Indonesia. Ramin is found in peat swamp areas, and the hotspots for illegal logging were Central Kalimantan and Riau Province, Sumatra. And later, his name appeared on a list issued by the country’s Ministry of Forestry of the top 12 illegal bosses in Indonesia. 

And, his past activities for the past ten years, below illustrated base on the EIA post

2000- EIA was investigating rampant illegal logging of valuable ramin timber in Indonesia.

 

2001- Police in Riau claimed to have completed investigations into Ali Jambi’s ramin racket (an illegal or dishonest scheme for obtaining money), but company records obtained by EIA show that by then he had decamped to Singapore – a favoured bolt-hole for Indonesian fugitives with plenty of spare money in their pockets. In another words, he got away. 

2003- EIA monitored series of small ports on the west coast of Malaysia where illegal Indonesian ramin logs from Sumatra were being landed. 50,000 cubic metres of sawn ramin timber from Sumatra was arriving at the Free Trade Zone of Pasir Gudang a year. Paperwork was provided by the port authorities declaring the origin of the wood as Malaysia and it was then shipped onwards to buyers in Hong Kong and mainland China.

2004- EIA’s campaign to curb flows of illicit timber out of Indonesia was gaining ground. Indonesia had successfully listed ramin on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), drastically restricting trade, and Malaysia has banned the import of logs from Indonesia. It seemed that Ali Jambi’s ramin smuggling business was on the wane (becoming weaker, less vigorous, or less extensive ).

2006-  EIA investigators tracked down one of his main sawmills in the province of Riau, Sumatra. Although the site was inactive, a foreman revealed that the boss, called Jenggo (another of Ali Jambi’s names), had moved to Singapore and that his company was called Ramindo. EIA discovered a Singapore-registered company called Ramindo Sukses Perkasa, with the director named as Hap Ali.

2007- A picture of Ali Jambi (or Hap Ali) was snapped at his house by the EIA team members in Singapore. The image was then published in the report: the thousand headed snake, where it aimed to expose the abject failure of the Indonesian justice system to prosecute the main illegal logging bosses, using Ali Jambi as one of the examples.

What is he doing now?

He has obtained Singaporean citizenship and goes by the name of Tham Hai Lee, according to his ID card. He is still a director of Ramindo Sukses Perkasa, and also of a shipping company called Barlian Shipping and Trading, although he was involved in a civil dispute over this company with allegations of financial impropriety. His business interests are said to span shipping, real estate, sand mining and coal mining, and he is believed to travel regularly to Indonesia, usually entering via the free trade zone island of Batam.

He is one of the example that is living in a luxurious life on ill-gotten gains from illegal logging and yet, untouched by Indonesia's justice system or international legislation.