Non-Compant Approach, Bengkulu KLHK-Polda Capture 3 Farmers Who Are Forest Round In TWA Seblat

Polda Bengkulu and BKSDA Bengkulu when delivering the release of three suspects for forest acquisition in TWA Seblat, North Bengkulu Regency. ANTARA

BENGKULU - The Directorate of Prevention and Security of the LHK of the Directorate General of Law and Human Rights at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) and the Bengkulu Police arrested three suspects in forest acquisition in the Seblat Nature Tourism Park (TWA) area of North Bengkulu Regency. The three additional arrests were AS (51) and SA (52) residents of Marga Sakti District and Ru (60) residents of Argamakmur District, North Bengkulu Regency. "We have arrested forest spreaders in the TWA Seblat area and the three work as farmers every day," said Head of Public Relations of the Bengkulu Police, Kombes Sudarno, in Bengkulu City, Antara, Wednesday, October 19. The three suspects have penetrated the TWA Seblat forest, North Bengkulu Regency with 4 hectares which will later be used as oil palm plantations. About two hectares of land that has been added has been planted with palm oil seeds by the three suspects and other communities since 2019. "This additional action did last a long time, because previously we made an effort to approach it. But hopefully with this last effort it will cause a collar effect for the increasers," he said. Meanwhile, Head of the Conservation Section Region I of the Bengkulu BKSDA Said Jauhari explained that the forest addition could not continue to be allowed, because it would make the perpetrators more massive and threaten the habitat of Sumatran elephants in the Seblat TWA forest. In fact, TWA Seblat is an elephant conservation area and currently the Sumatran elephant population is very small and is threatened with extinction. "So TWA Seblat is the last bastion to save the Sumatran elephant in Bengkulu Province," he said. There are six forest enhancers included in the Operational Target (TO) of the Bengkulu Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) and the Bengkulu Police, but when the arrest was carried out there were only three suspects. During the arrest, his party also confiscated evidence in the form of wooden sticks, knives, flashlights, wooden sticks, palm oil seeds, saws, knife sharpening stones, and sickles. Therefore, the three suspects are threatened with Article 78 paragraph (2) in conjunction with Article 50 paragraph (2) letter A of Law 41 of 1999 concerning Forestry. As has been changed in paragraph 4 Article 36 of the Republic of Indonesia Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning job creation, with the threat of a sentence of 10 years in prison or a fine of IDR 7.5 billion. It is known, TWA Seblat is a forest where elephants live in Bengkulu Province with an area of 7,732 hectares located in North Bengkulu Regency and Mukomuko Regency.