10 regents probed over timber thefts

PALEMBANG, South Sumatra: As many as 10 regents are being investigated in connection with illegal logging across Indonesia, Minister of Forestry Malam Sambat Kaban said here on Friday.

He said the regents included the head of Lamandau regency in Central Kalimantan province. The minister did not identify the remaining nine regents in question.

The list of 10 regents were submitted by the Ministry of Home Affairs to the National Police, Kaban added.

The minister said on Tuesday that at least 178 foreigners had been arrested for alleged involvement in the illegal felling of forests on the islands of Papua, Sumatra and Borneo.

The arrests had been made since the imposition of a presidential decree on illegal logging last year, he added.

The decree requires the Indonesian Military and the National Police, the Attorney General's Office and the Ministry of Home Affairs to fight illegal logging. --Antara