Timber theft rife in Kerinci

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