Forest fund for planes nagged

YOGYAKARTA: Dozens of students staged a protest on Thursday against the government's decision to use Rp 400 billion ($193 million) in reforestation funds to finance the national aircraft industry.

The protest involving students from the socio-political school of Gadjah Mada University dispersed peacefully.

The banner-waving demonstrators demanded that the presidential decree on the appropriation of funds for the IPTN aircraft industry be revoked because it would only worsen deforestation.

Student Yan Parhas said the presidential decree was unconstitutional because the 1993 guidelines of state policy guarantee sustainable development. (fad/pan)