Trees lose to towns

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan: Most towns in the province find it difficult to reserve 30 percent of their area for wooded parks due to population pressure, an official claims.

Chief of the East Kalimantan chapter of the Real Estate Indonesia (REI) Ichwanuttaqwa said Thursday that rapid population growth has forced the construction of more and more residential areas.

The "city forestation" scheme is especially difficult to implement in fast growing Samarinda and Balikpapan, he said, as reported by Antara.

He added that REI supports the government's scheme.

Currently, Samarinda has 12 parks covering much less than the suggested 30 percent of the total city area. (pan)