10% of national park deforested

BENGKULU: Some 10 percent of the 1.3-million-hectare Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS) has been cleared of trees, an official said.

Soewartono, the chairman of the TNKS board of directors, blamed illegal logging for the rapid pace of deforestation in the park.

"The deforested areas are located in Kerinci area, Jambi province and South Pesisir area, West Sumatra province," he said on Wednesday.

He said that local residents and private companies were responsible for the illegal logging. In order to prevent further deforestation, he said, the TNKS management would intensify its drive against illegal logging.

The management would also demand that the local government impose stiff sanctions on private companies involved in illegal logging, he said.

The national park comprises of areas in at least three provinces, namely Jambi, Bengkulu and West Sumatra. -- Antara

;JP;ASA; ANPAa..r.. Kendari-election-guard Hansip trained to safeguard poll JP/5/ACROSS

Hansip trained to safeguard polls

KENDARI, Southeast Sulawesi: The Kendari municipality government is training a total of 1,897 civilian guards (hansip) to help safeguard the upcoming elections.

Kicking off the training on Wednesday, Andi Muzakkir Mustafa, the mayor of Kendari, said that the training was aimed at enhancing the skills of the civilian guards to help security personnel in safeguarding the upcoming elections.

In the five days of training, the civilian guards are also educated on how to vote in the general election.

The civilian guards are currently being trained by police personnel, military officers and officials at the Kendari General Elections Commission (KPUD), in the Cultural Park Hall in the heart of the municipality. -- JP

;JP;ASA; ANPAa..r.. Maluku-governor-visit Six governors visit Maluku JP/5/ACROSS

Six governors visit Maluku

KENDARI, Southeast Sulawesi: Six governors visited Maluku on Wednesday to observe the situation in the province, which was recently rocked by sectarian violence.

The governors were Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubowono X, Gorontalo Governor Fadel Muhammad, Banten Governor Joko Munandar, Lampung Governor Tursandi Alwi, and Southeast Sulawesi Governor Ali Mazi.

Five governors boarded a chartered airplane from Jakarta toward Denpasar. From Denpasar, the airplane landed in the Southeast Sulawesi capital of Kendari to pick up Ali Mazi. The governors disembarked in Ambon, the capital of Maluku.

Several civilian and military officials welcomed the six governors to Ambon.

"The visit is aimed at observing the current situation in Ambon. We may set up business cooperation with the Maluku provincial government after the visit. At least, the visit symbolizes that we express concern over sectarian conflict in Maluku and we are ready to help rehabilitate the province," said Ali Mazi.

Maluku was rocked by sectarian conflict in 1999. Tens of thousands of residents were killed in the bloody conflict, and hundreds of thousands of others were forced to flee the island. -- Antara

;JP;ASA; ANPAa..r.. Across-Donggala-clash Three injured after clash in Donggala JP/5/DONGGALA

Three injured after clash in Donggala

DONGGALA, Central Sulawesi: Three people were seriously injured on Tuesday night in Donggala regency, Central Sulawesi province, after clashes between two rival subdistricts.

Two of the people injured were local residents. One was identified as Vito, 15. The third victim was police personnel First. Brig. Bowo Nugroho.

The incident began on Tuesday afternoon when local Watujonju residents were about to bury Naim, who died on Monday afternoon after a clash with neighboring Bora residents.

Watujonju residents became emotional after the burial, and started to attack the neighboring residents of Bora using, among other weapons, homemade rifles. The Bora residents fought back.

Police personnel Bowo Nugroho was attempting to restore order when he was shot in the chest. He is being treated in a local hospital.

Vito, a Watujonju resident, was shot in his head and is being treated in the same hospital. The third victim has not yet been identified. -- JP

;JP;ASA; ANPAa..r.. Across-Poison Elementary pupils hospitalized JP/5/ACROSS

Elementary pupils hospitalized

SEMARANG: A total of 15 students from the Lebdosari elementary school in West Semarang district here were hospitalized for poisoning.

Miyatun, the school principal, said that the students were allegedly poisoned by a mosquito-repellent lotion.

"The incident began when they spread the mosquito repellent on their hands, to prevent them from being bitten by Aedes aegypti mosquito. Unfortunately, they apparently forgot to wash their hands before they ate at the school canteen," said Miyatun.

The students were from the third and fourth grades.

A student said that he felt nauseous and vomited after he ate food at the canteen.

All the 15 students were immediately taken to a community health center in the area. After quick medical examinations, three students were allowed to go home, while the other 12 students were admitted to Telogorejo Hospital.

Retno Wurian, a doctor at the hospital, said that the Semarang Health Office was investigating whether the mosquito-repellent lotion had caused the incident. -- Antara