Log-filled police boat impounded

Log-filled police boat impounded

Fadli, Karimun

The Navy impounded a boat belonging to the Riau Police
Cooperative and carrying more than 1,000 cubic meters of logs in
Karimun regency, Riau province.

The head of the Tanjung Balai Karimun Naval Base, Lt. Col.
Bambang Wahyudi, said on Tuesday the Ruby-3 was stopped on
Saturday night shortly after leaving Mindo island in Karimun
regency for Jambi province.

Bambang said the Navy personnel impounded the boat and
detained its crew after it was determined that the logs were
being transported without the necessary documents.

The crew did have a license from the Riau Forestry Office to
transport the logs, but the license had already expired, placing
them in violation of forestry regulations.

"The boat was only authorized to transport the logs on June 23
at the latest," Bambang said.

He said the Navy was detaining the captain of the Ruby-3,
Nasir, and nine crew members at the Tanjung Karimun Naval Base.

"We have reported the matter to the chief of the Navy's
Western Fleet. We will proceed with the case, disregarding the
fact that the boat is owned by the police cooperative," said
Bambang.

He said the Navy personnel were obeying an order from the Navy
chief to assist civilian law enforcers in combating smugglers,
illegal loggers and pirates operating in Indonesian waters.

The police boat was carrying various types of logs, including
from the meranti, balam, sintai and punak trees.
There was a total of 1,053.81 cubic meters of logs on the boat.

Had the boat not been stopped, the state would have suffered
losses amounting to Rp 1.3 billion (US$136,842), Bambang said.

He said Navy investigators were writing up the case files on
the incident and would hand them over to investigators at the
Tanjung Balai Karimun Forestry Office for further investigation.

According to data from the Tanjung Balai Karimun Naval Base,
since April of this year it has impounded 30 boats and ships in
the waters in its jurisdiction. All of the vessels were being
used for smuggling, illegal logging or piracy.

A spokesman for the Riau Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. S. Pandiangan,
said he had heard nothing about the matter.

"Actually, our cooperative should have nothing to do with the
logging business. But I'll check the report first," Pandiangan
told The Jakarta Post.