Feb
22
Written by:
frank zindel
22.02.2006
Bali sea police arrested five suspected turtle poachers and rescued 120 green turtles during a raid on a boat in Benoa Harbor early on Thursday. The action comes a day after Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Made Mangku Pastika summoned sea police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Sutikno to his office to remind him of the increasing protests by local NGOs over the recent increase in the trade of the endangered species. Benoa Harbor has been a haven for poachers for a number of years.
The five alleged poachers were identified as the skipper of Wisata Bahari, Muhammad Toha, and his four crew, Taufiq, 23, Ibrahim, 45, Supriadi, 25, and Syamsul, 26. All are natives of Madura island in East Java. The suspects had allegedly confessed, saying they had planned to sell the turtles to a local dealer in Benoa for between Rp 100,000 (US$12) and Rp 300,000 ($36) per turtle. "The skipper has an official letter from the harbor administrator at Sahpeken, Madura, explaining that the boat carried 61 turtles. However, our officers found 120 turtles stashed in the boat," Bali police spokesman Sr. Comr. R. Pangasihan Gaut said on Thursday.
The suspects would likely be charged with Article 21 of Law No 5 1990 on protection of endangered species. The article states that poaching, possessing, slaughtering, trafficking and trading protected animals can be punished by five years in prison and fines of Rp 100 million. Two of the confiscated turtles were placed in the custody of the Office of Natural Resource Conservation (KSDA) as evidence, while the remainder were released into the ocean later that day.
Meanwhile, in Makassar, South Sulawesi, non-government organization Profauna said on Wednesday that poaching and trading of endangered turtles was still rampant in the capital city. Profauna chairman Rosek Nursahid said an investigation by his organization revealed that Makassar was one of the country's main centers for turtle poaching and trading. Souvenirs made from turtles, such as rings, bracelets and turtle shell were easily found at Hasanuddin Airport and on Jl. Somba Apu in Makassar, he said. Turtle traders also sold turtle shells to Java, particularly Yogyakarta, he added.
Rosek said the endangered turtles were not only poached in Sulawesi waters, but also in the waters off Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and Southeast Sulawesi. "We know that implementation of the law protecting endangered turtles is very weak. Therefore, people are still free to poach endangered turtles," he said. He called on the South Sulawesi administration to act against all poachers and traders.
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