Three Coral Reef Thieves In Pusa Siaba Besar Labuan Bajo Arrested

Head of BTNK Labuan Forest Police Unit Bajo Julizar Riduan

LABUAN BAJO - Officers from the Komodo National Park Center (BTNK) Labuan Bajo Manggarai Barat, NTT, arrested three people suspected of stealing coral reefs on Siaba Besar Island.

"Initially the officers carried out patrols to prevent forest fires, but there was activity at the snorkeling site," said Julizar Riduan, Head of the BTNK Labuan Bajo Forestry Police Unit, to reporters in Labuan Bajo, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, October 26.

He explained that Siaba Island was included in the Section III Working Area, so patrols were carried out there. Arriving there, the officers saw a motorboat carrying out activities at the snorkeling site, namely taking a type of "soft coral".

Based on the information gathered by the officers, residents took "soft coral" to be traded. The officers arrested the three perpetrators and took them to Labuan Bajo.

The three perpetrators consisted of 2 adults and 1 child. While the evidence found, namely two large basins of "soft coral".

Riduan admitted that he did not know the exact number of coral reefs that had been stolen by the residents.

Riduan said BTNK is coordinating with the Kupang Marine and Fishery Resources Monitoring Station (PSDKP) to find out the type of coral reef stolen and the protection status of the coral reef.

In the near future, he said, the Kupang PSDKP Station Team will go to Labuan Bajo to identify the type of coral reef that has been stolen.

For the time being, he said, the alleged perpetrators were still being held for further investigation and investigation.

He regretted the actions of the alleged perpetrators who damaged the marine ecosystem in the West Manggarai BTNK area.

According to Riduan, marine ecosystems are dependent on one another. Losing one type of coral reef will affect other coral reef ecosystems.