According to the Ministry of Industry, the domestic pulp output is capable of meeting 28 per cent of the national demand. To take the initiative in pulp sources, the paper sector has carried out material zones in Kontum, Thanh Hoa and northern region.
However, these projects are encountering hardships in capital sources, outputs, fire fighting and living standards for foresters. If these difficulties have not completely been resolved, each year the industry has to spend billions of US dollars to import pulp. In addition, the target of 1.05 million tonnes of paper and 1.015 million tonnes by 2010 will not be realised.
Accordingly, the projects in Kontum Province, Thanh Hoa Province and northern region covers 90,000 ha, 50,000 ha and nearly 200,000, respectively. However, all three material zones are coping with numerous problems. The Kontum project has grown 15,000 ha and if the cultivation schedule is kept, it will cover some 58,000 ha in 7-8 years. However, this forest is highly flammable in the dry season.
In the first quarter of 2006, Kontum Province witnessed 113 ha of forest burned down, including 83 ha in the material zone. For many years, many forestation encouragement policies have been applied to expand material area. The material supply has surpassed the production capacity of Bai Bang Paper Factory, which can produce 60,000 tonnes of paper a year. As the hardship in exporting chopped woods emerge, many foresters accept to sell at a level lower than production cost. As a result, incomes of forest men are being seriously threatened.
In addition to the above problems, the low income of workers in material zones is another serious matter. In three major material zones, only workers in the northern region can earn enough to survive because Bai Bang Paper Factory and chopped wood exporters buy all their products.
As regards the Kontum and Thanh Hoa zones, workers are starving because factories built to process materials from these zones have not operated for many years.
Ms Nguyen Thi Nhi, 54, who worked for Ngoc Lac Forestry Research Centre of Thanh Hoa Paper Company, said: “The Thanh Hoa paper material project has not been carried out for the past three years, therefore, we are jobless. We unwillingly trimmed down trees to live on.” To survive, many worker households have to look for every way to improve incomes: raising animals or pruning forest trees.
The situation becomes worse when trees in the forest carry diseases. In Cam Thuy Plantation (Thanh Hoa), dozens of hectares of bamboo-like trees are decayed. In addition, from the fifth to eighth months of Lunar Year, deforesters enter the plantation to dig up sprouts.
To reduce import reliance when the pulp production potentiality of Vietnam is quite large, the Government issued the Decision No. 160/1998/QD-TTg on Overall Paper Industry Development Plan until 2010 dated September 4, 1998. The decision mentioned the establishment of material zones to supply domestic factories.
Specifically, the total new cultivation area nationwide would be 640,000 ha, including 170,000 ha of existing forests in planned areas and 476,000 ha of natural forests in the planned areas.
However, before the current difficulties, the paper industry hardly realises the target. The Vietnam Paper Corporation said the new forestation area is only 3,828 ha, or nearly 35 per cent of the plan, principally due to capital shortages. According to the Decree 106/2004, to receive capital from the Development Assistance Fund, the Vietnam Paper Corporation has to send the complete project for the Fund to appraise and borrowing farmers must show official land use right certificates or land transfer decisions of the Government to the Fund before receiving loans.
However, many farmers have mortgaged their official land use right certificates to borrow money from banks to plant the forests; therefore, the financial disbursement is very difficult. Without sufficient capital, they must cancel their cultivation plans. Last but not least, associated projects like Thanh Hoa Paper Factory will not be funded capital if any breakdowns are found.
According to modern models of the world paper industry, any project must take initiative in 60 per cent of material inputs. Among current paper projects, only Kontum grows 15 ha.
In short, the material shortage for paper factories is clear. If the Government fails to introduce timely measures to resolve difficulties and invest in material zones, the aftermath is even worse. Furthermore, the paper material forests also play important role in securing socio-economic aspects, creating jobs for people and reducing expenditures for forestation projects while the factories have sufficient input to operate.
P.V
Vietnamese
