LAMANRIAU.COM, PEKANBARU – In the period of 2021, Riau Police Chief Inspector General Pol Agung Setia Imam Efenfi said his party had uncovered 29 cases of illegal logging in Riau Province.
Of the total cases, 41 people were arrested for being involved in encroachment whose wood was sourced from the Giak Siak Kecil Wildlife Sanctuary (SM) and from Rimbang Baling SM and Kerumutan SM.
Furthermore, for the handling of the Karhutla case, the Regional Police and the ranks are currently handling 20 cases with 24 suspects.
“I assure you that law enforcement will continue to be carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, BKSDA, and other parties involved,” said the Kapolda.
The Regional Police Chief said that securing these irresponsible parties is proof that the state is present and cannot lose to crime.
“Riau Police continue to advise the public that taking or cutting wood in forest areas is a crime that causes very serious environmental damage,” said the Kapolda.
Regarding saving Riau’s forests, his party together with the Ministry of Environment, relevant stakeholders stated that they were consistent in exposing environmental crimes such as forest and land fires and illegal logging in order to protect and preserve the environment.
“This is also in line with President Joko Widodo’s speech at the G20 Summit in La Nuvola Rome, Italy, that in the issue of climate change, Indonesia has a very important and strategic role as one of the largest owners of tropical forests and mangrove forests in the world. So it has become Indonesia’s commitment to be part of the solution to the issue of climate change, protecting forests and nature from the hands of the mafia who destroy the environment,” he concluded. (MCR)
