Police and illegal logging

The article in the July 28 issue of The Jakarta Post titled Log-filled police boat impounded, concerning the boat's confiscation by the Navy for carrying more than 1,000 cubic meters of logs in Riau waters without the necessary documents, has only added to the already acute and unaddressed problems of illegal logging and smuggling in the country.

As reported, the boat belonged to the local police.

On the other hand, the event coincided with a change of guard at the West Kalimantan Police (Kompas, July 28, 30).

The outgoing police chief had actually urged the government to halt completely Indonesian-Malaysian border crossings to stop the smuggling trade for at least four months and teach a lesson to Malaysian wood factories -- see how they fared without log supplies from Kalimantan.

The incoming police chief, upon realizing the grave condition of Kalimantan rain forests, has vowed to deal harshly with illegal logging and smuggling. This is a promise that people should keep in mind and monitor his progress in living up to it.

With regard to the involvement of a police boat carrying "illegal" goods -- if this was true -- could tarnish the police's public image and might also prove right the oft-repeated allegations that law enforcement agencies are involved in illegal logging and smuggling rings. The police chief should, in turn, clarify this matter openly so as not to let the general public identify the institution as a forest plunderer.

The government, in particular the Ministry of Forestry, has been trying to quell the widespread exploitation of the nation's forests. For instance, it signed in 2002 a memorandum of understanding with the military and police chiefs, but this has yet to be implemented fully and explained to the public.

It is now up to the next president to deal with the problems, and of course, to establish new and credible law enforcement agencies that are truly aware of the importance of our rain forests as the lungs of the world.

M. RUSDI Jakarta