Timber theft rife in Kerinci

KERINCI, Jambi: Kerinci Police have arrested dozens of illegal logging suspects in the regency's Kerinci Seblat National Park.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Edi Purwanto, chief of the police precinct, announced that several suspects were undergoing a police investigation while several others had been taken to the district court.

"Despite the arrests, illegal logging and the poaching of endangered species in the vast protected national park is still rife," he said here on Friday.

Edi said illegal logging involved mostly local people who stole timber from the forest to build their houses, instead of for business.

"So far, no illegal logging had occurred using modern equipment as there are no sawmills near the forest area," he said. -- Antara