Quake jolts Central Sulawesi
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
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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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Nation-Across-June17
JP/5/acros17
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