'Don't Protect Anything': DPR Urges The Kayu Mafia Dismantling Task Force Behind The Sumatra Floods

JAKARTA - Member of Commission IV DPR RI Daniel Johan, supports the steps taken by the Forest Area Control Task Force (PKH) which has begun to carry out investigations related to logs that were washed away by major floods in Aceh and Sumatra. He asked the PKH Task Force to dare to reveal its findings and not to cover it up.

"The task force must not be selective. If there are perpetrators who have big names, whether employers or officials, the Task Force must dare to reveal it. Nothing should be covered up. Don't protect it," said Daniel Johan to reporters, Thursday, December 4.

According to Daniel, decisive action that does not view hair is very important, considering that forest damage has caused great losses and suffering to the people.

Those who destroy nature must be held accountable for their actions. This disaster is the result of greed and violation of the law. There should be no tolerance," said Daniel.

Daniel emphasized that the existence of logs in the middle of the Sumatra flood was clear evidence of massive logging that had a direct impact on environmental damage.

The charms cannot suddenly appear. It clearly comes from the cut down forests, and shows how severe the destruction of our forests is. This is an ecological disaster," said the legislator from the West Kalimantan I electoral district.

Daniel also assessed that the flooding that occurred was not just a natural event, but the fruit of repeated deforestation practices. Therefore, he assessed the need for ecological debt' from all parties, including the government, society, and industry players involved in the use of natural resources.

"This momentum must be a turning point for improving forest and environmental governance in Indonesia, so that similar incidents do not continue to repeat and harm the community," he concluded.

Previously, the Coordinating Minister for Human Development (Menko PMK), Pratikno, confirmed that the Forest Area Control Task Force (PKH) had intervened to investigate logs carried by flood currents in the Sumatra disaster.

"Currently, the PKH Task Force has intervened to trace logs of wood," said Pratikno at a press conference at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base, East Jakarta, Wednesday, December 3.