Legislator accused of illegal logging

Legislator accused of illegal logging

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Non-governmental organizations urged legal authorities on
Wednesday to look into possible links that legislator Abdul
Rasyid had with an illegal-logging syndicate in Kalimantan.

The call came after Navy troops seized three foreign-flagged
ships on Sunday in Tanjung Priok harbor, Jakarta, for attempting
to smuggle 25,000 cubic meters of logs worth Rp 40 billion (US$4
million) from Central Kalimantan.

A document found in one of the impounded ships showed that a
logging company owned by Rasyid was involved in the latest case
of illegal logging, according to the Indonesian Environmental
Investigation Agency and Telapak Indonesia.

In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, the two
organizations demanded a thorough probe into the involvement of
the legislator from Golkar Party in the smuggling case.

"From the data we have gathered since last year, we have found
that PT Lingga Marintama, owned by Abdul Rasyid, had been
involved in illegal logging in 1999 in Tanjung Puting National
Park (in Central Kalimantan)," Telapak's Hapsoro said, as quoted
in the statement.

He said the government should uncover the syndicate in order
to find the chief culprits. "We hope that the government is
willing to probe the involvement of Abdul Rasyid."

The two groups also applauded the seizure of the three ships,
currently detained at Tanjung Priok.