Rangers trained to shoot

Rangers trained to shoot

BOJONEGORO, East Java: Fifty forest rangers have been sent to a police training center to learn to use machine guns to improve their ability to deal with the increasing number of timber thefts, Antara reported yesterday.

Basuki, who is in charge of the Bojonegoro forest security, said the rangers started the program at the police training center in Watukosek earlier this month.

The rangers will be armed on the job next month, he said.

The authorities have recently established 50 outlook posts in local forests. A total of 1,160 timber thefts occurred last year, causing an estimated loss of Rp 108 million (US$46,491).

One of the most recent attempts occurred last week, when seven people were caught trying to fell some trees. Upon interrogation, they said they only intended to sell the timber for firewood, the agency reported. (swe)