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.