RAPP owes Rp 16b in taxes

PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) has accumulated Rp 16 billion (US$1.72 million) in overdue taxes in the last two years, according to the administration of Riau province.

Said Mukri, head of the province' Revenue Agency, told Antara news agency on Tuesday that RAPP was among several big companies that owe tax payments.

Said said that RAPP has refused to pay tax for surface water usage, which the administration set at Rp 100 per cubic meter, arguing that the company always returned the water back to nature.

Separately, an RAPP spokesman admitted that the company had overdue taxes, but said the amount was not as large as the province had reported.

“The number is not that big, but we will check it again later,” RAPP spokesman Nandik Sufaryono told the news agency.

RAPP made headlines last year when Indonesian Greenpeace activists said they would file a police report against the company for illegally clearing forest in a peatland area in Cape Kampar.