30 firms investigated over Riau forest fires

JAKARTA (JP): More than 30 companies are under investigation for their alleged roles in the recent forest fires in Riau, a provincial administration official said on Wednesday.

Darminto Soetono, the head of the Riau office of the Ministry of Forestry and Plantation, said he had ordered the companies to halt all land-clearing activities and had given them 10 days to put out fires on their land.

Investigations into the causes of the fire would begin as soon as the fires were doused, Darminto said on the sidelines of a Sub Regional Fire Fighting Arrangements Working Group discussion.

The meeting, attended by officials from Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, came in the wake of another major breakout of forest fires this month that sent thick haze over parts of Malaysia and Singapore.

Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), helicopter surveys and satellite photographs supplied by Singapore show that 70 percent of the hotspots in Riau were located in concessions owned by more than 30 companies, Darminto said.

He declined to name the companies but said that they included plantations, holders of industrial forest estates (HTI) and forest concessionaires (HPH).

In North Sumatra, at least four companies are facing indictments for causing forest fires, according to Darori, the head of the North Sumatra office of the same ministry.

The four companies are PT Rapala, PT Majuma, PT KASS and Grup Tobing, he said.

"Rapala alone has burned about 3,000 hectares of land, which have now been doused by the rain," Darori alleged.

If found guilty, the companies' owners could face up to 15 years in jail and a fine of Rp 5 billion, he said.

"We will also bring them to a civil court because they burned the land on purpose," Darori said.

Director-general for nature protection and conservation Harsono said that despite the implementation of a zero-burning policy, many companies were still using the old, and cheaper method of slash-and-burn.

"If the zero-burning policy was carried out there would be no more fires," he said.

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations, the number of hotspots in Indonesia has been reduced to zero, Harsono said.

Their number peaked on July 14 with 169 in North Sumatra and 340 in Riau, he said.

Rain, combined with efforts of the government's fire containment team and local communities had helped reduce the number of hotspots, he said. (10)