Forest guards to bear arms

Forest guards to bear arms

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan: The government plans to arm the
forest guards across the country with weapons, while also
changing their title from jagawana (forest guard) to the English
words "forest ranger", Minister of Forestry and Plantations
Muslimin Nasution said here on Friday.

However the minister, as quoted by Antara, did not disclose
the time or the types of weapons to be used by the Indonesian
forest rangers.

Muslimin described the change as a "promotion" for the forest
guards, and said it is necessary to control timber theft in the
area, particularly in Kalimantan.

"In carrying out their duties, the forest guards would be
equipped with weapons, so they would have no excuse later, such
as that the theft was masterminded by servicemen," the minister
said.

"The preparations are still underway," he added.

One of the other goals of increasing the status of the
jagawana officers is to protect the country's timber from being
smuggled to neighboring countries, such as Malaysia.

He said that quite recently at least 10,000 cubic meters of
logs had been illegally sold to Malaysia per day, making the
neighboring country the largest timber producer in the world.