30 firms investigated over Riau forest fires
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)