Bengkalis (ANTARA News) - Petani village residents in Mandau subdistrict, Bengaklis district, Riau province, are threatening to kill the wild elephants that have been disturbing their lives for weeks if the authorities fail to take action.

"We are now at the end of our patience with these animals. They have damaged our homes and often threaten our safety. So, if the government does not provide a way out soon, we will drive them away or catch them ourselves and kill them. if necessary," Fahri (46), Petani village resident said Saturday.

A similar statement was made by another Petani resident, Karman (60), who said he saw his house being destroyed by wild elephants while he could do nothing to stop it.

"There must be a choice : elephants or humans. If the animals are really protected by the state, then the state must also guarantee the safety of the people who live near their habitat. The government should not wait until there are casualties," Karman said.

In response to the villagers` sentiments, the chairman of the Benkalis branch of the Nature and Environment Community Care Movement (Gempal), H. Simamora,
admitted the authorities had not been handling the recurring problem of wild elephant incursions into human settlements seriourly.

The problem was often discussed in meetings and touched on in familiarization efforts but no concrete followup action was ever taken in the field.

In the recurring conflicts between wild elephants and humans many animals and humans had already been harmed or killed and it was time for the authorities to take real action, if the protected animal was to be saved from extinction.
 
One of the ways the authorities should pursue, he said, was to set up more elephant training centers in the wild or expand existing ones. To accomplish this, regional authorities should not wait until they receive the needed funds from the central government but use their own financial resources.

"If they wait for financial aid from the central government, it will never happen," he said.
Petani villagers had been terrorized by wild elephant herds repeatedly since early March 2010. A number of houses in the village were ruined by the huge beasts that were apparently looking for food. (*)

Editor: Aditia Maruli

COPYRIGHT © 2010

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