President: Mafia behind illegal logging case
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono suspected that a mafia was involved in the handling of illegal logging cases in several regions so far.
"I believe a mafia is behind the illegal logging activities. I call on the judicial mafia eradiction task force to also tackle this problem , reduce or stop these activities," he said before leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam, to attend an Asean summit on Wednesday.
He said eradicating mafia in the forestry sector was very important for the sake of law enforcement as well as forest and environment conservation in the country.
The President thanked Green Peace Indonesia and also Walhi that have so far been critical about and cared for environmental conservation in the country.
"The government and non-governmental organizations share the same spirit with regard to environmental conservation efforts," he said.
In view of that the President encouraged the central and regional governments to cooperate with the non-governmental organizations to save the forests and the environment.
On the occasion the President also ordered clearance of officials in the government agency linked to the case of tax embezzlement by tax officer Gayus Tambunan with regard to settle the case.
"The same order also applies to other offices (apart from the finance ministry), according to the existing laws and regulations," he said.
(T.SYS/H-YH/S026)
http://www.antara.co.id/en/news/1270649680/president-mafia-behind-illegal-logging-case