APSN Banner

Pillagers clash with security forces

Source
Agence France Presse - September 5, 1998

Surabaya – Three people were injured and 32 others arrested when a clash erupted between troops and hundreds of villagers pillaging a teak forest near the town of Ngawi, 150 kilometres (95 miles) west of here, resident sources said Saturday.

"The crowd have cut down around 800 trees in the forest over the past 15 days," a resident source said, adding that the clash erupted when 300 security forces, including anti-riot troops and air-force soldiers, were deployed Friday to stop the plundering.

In the Pekel district of Banyuwangi, 220 kilometres (140 miles) southeast of this coastal East Javanese city, hundreds of angry villagers destroyed 11 hectares (27 acres) of protected forest. The resident source said the villagers were upset at the state Bureau of Forestry (Perhutani) for ignoring their request for ownership rights over the area which has now become protected forest land.

Country