DPR backs criminal prosecution of environmental-polluting corporation

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Ahmad Sahroni, deputy chairman of the Indonesian DPR’s Commission III, supports the move by the Riau Police to designate PT Musim Mas as a corporate suspect in the case of alleged environmental damage at the edge of the Air Hitam River, a tributary of the Nilo River, in Pelalawan Regency, Riau.

Sahroni said that law enforcement against environmental polluting corporations is important to position ecological damage as a serious crime that directly impacts the people and the state.

“It is time to normalise viewing ecological damage as a serious crime that harms the state,” Sahroni said in a statement in Jakarta on Friday.

The case originated from a report by the Asosiasi Peduli Lingkungan Indonesia (APLI) Riau regarding palm oil planting activities at the edge of the Air Hitam River, a tributary of the Nilo, at a distance of only about 2 to 5 metres from the riverbank.

Riau Police Chief Inspector General Herry Heryawan previously emphasised that they will crack down hard on perpetrators of environmental damage, whether individuals or corporations, as it is deemed to threaten ecosystem sustainability and public safety.

According to Sahroni, environmental damage not only triggers losses to the state but also increases the risk of disasters, which are most keenly felt by the public.

“Ecological damage harms not only the state in the event of disasters, but the greater losses are borne by the public who often suffer most,” he said.

He noted that communities can lose homes, farmland, livestock, and even family members as a result of environmental damage triggered by corporate activity.

“They lose family members, homes, farmland, even their own residences which will require repair at a high cost. This is the most wicked crime,” Sahroni said.

In addition to social and economic losses, Sahroni also highlighted the long-term impacts on forest ecosystem damage and wildlife habitat, which he says pose a threat to future generations.

“We have not yet debated ecological damage to, for example, forest ecosystems and wildlife that are destroyed; that is also a major loss for our future generations,” he said.

Therefore, he urged law enforcement officials in various regions to continue strengthening a law-enforcement approach that is pro-environment.

“I urge the authorities to keep applying a pro-environment approach to law enforcement like this,” Sahroni said.