Quake jolts Central Sulawesi
PALU, Central Sulawesi: A strong earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale rocked Central Sulawesi on Sunday, Antara reported.
"So far, there is no report of casualties or damage to buildings," Tolitoli police chief Sr. Adj. Comr. Mustar Manurung said as quoted by the news agency.
He would however keep on monitoring the development of the temblor, particularly from North Tolitoli subdistrict and Buol district which are close to the epicenter which was located in the Sulawesi sea some 100 kilometers under the sea bed.
The tremor hit Central Sulawesi at 8 a.m. and was felt in three main towns in the province -- the capital Palu, Tolitoli and Donggala -- at the same strength of III on the Mercalli scale. -- Antara
;JP;YLT; ANPAj..r.. Across-Jambi-clash Residents return police rifles following Thursday's unrest JP/5/JAMBI
Residents return police rifles
JAMBI, Jambi: Angry residents of Brembeng village in the Jambi regency of Muara Jambi returned two stolen rifles to the Batanghari police precinct.
The weapons belonged to two police officers caught in the middle of violent unrest on Thursday, following an overnight escape of 12 inmates from a nearby penitentiary.
Batanghari police precinct chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Suedi Hussein said on Sunday the two police officers had been assigned to escort an undisclosed amount of money belonging to the Muaro Sabak Provincial Development Bank (BPD) in the Tanjung Jabung Barat regency, when they came upon the angry masses.
Police managed to rescue the officers, but the money, which reportedly amounted to Rp 1 billion, was missing. The police have questioned nine witnesses over the matter.
On Wednesday, 12 inmates from the Kuala Tungkal Penitentiary escaped. One of three inmates who were recaptured, Saiful of Brembang village, died, sparking unrest over speculation that he had been tortured by the police.
Also attacked during the rampage were crews of RCTI, SCTV and TPI private televisions, who were covering the incident. -- Antara
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RI named forest fire monitoring center
MEDAN, North Sumatra: A recent international conference has named Indonesia a center for information and monitoring of forest fires worldwide, officials said here on Saturday.
The World Land and Forest Fire conference, held in Kuala Lumpur, was attended by ministers from members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and a number of developed countries.
In attendance were also experts from the United States, Austria, Britain and Canada.
Spokesman for North Sumatra's provincial administration Eddy Sofyan said the forum admitted that forest fires were a threat not only to developing countries but also to developed ones.
The participating countries pledged to hold training courses on how to deal with forest fires, enforce the law on forest preservation and monitor such natural disasters, he added. --Antara
Forest rangers accused of illegal logging
PALU, Central Sulawesi: Environmental activists here have accused local forest rangers of being involved in rampant illegal logging at Lore Lindu National Park (TNLL) in Central Sulawesi.
They claim to have evidence to back up the accusation.
"That's what we have seen openly in the field," said Mohamad Yamin of Katopasa Indonesia, a local environmental group.
He said the allegation was based on the fact that illegal logging had been taking place for dozens of years despite tight security in the protected park.
"It is extremely alarming because every gate to the TNLL is tightly guard by forest rangers," Yamin added.
He said that based on findings by a joint investigative team from Katopasa and the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), at least 10 trucks carried between three and four cubic meters of logs out of the park per month. --Antara