Forestry firms receive ultimatum for burning land

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo has given 125 firms a 15-day ultimatum to stop slash-and-burn practices or have their licenses revoked, a senior ministry official said yesterday.

Director General of Forest Protection and Nature Preservation, Soemarsono, said the 125 firms were an addition to 50 firms which the minister had already announced Monday.

Most of the 175 companies warned operate plantations (133), followed by timber estates (27) and contractors opening up areas for the government's transmigration programs (15).

These companies were singled out because satellite images showed "hot spots" in the vicinity of their operation.

Soemarsono said the burden of proof they did not start the fire lied with the companies.

"If in 15 days from the announcement the forest companies remain silent and do not present a report disproving the allegation, the Ministry of Forestry will automatically revoke their wood use permits," he said.

The ministry would also ask the Ministry of Agriculture and other related provincial administration agencies to revoke the plantation licenses and other permits.

Of the 125 companies named yesterday, 16 operate in North Sumatra, 17 in South Sumatra, 20 in Jambi, 35 in Central Kalimantan, 11 in South Kalimantan, nine in Riau, four in East Kalimantan and 13 in West Kalimantan.

On Monday, Minister Djamaludin named 50 companies comprising 22 in Riau, 14 in East Kalimantan and 14 in West Kalimantan.

The 175 companies warned include giant timber estates PT Kiani Lestari and PT Itci Hutani Manunggal, which had claimed that their areas burned unintentionally and state-plantation firms PTP II, PTP III, PTP IV, PTP VI, PTP VII and PTP X.

The minister had earlier said that his ministry did not have any recourse of action other than to publicly announce their names and revoke their licenses.

The fires have resulted in massive haze shrouding parts of Kalimantan and Sumatra creating pollution, health hazards and disrupting air traffic.

Neighboring Malaysia and Singapore have also been affected by haze pollution.

The Office of Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare in a letter sent to provincial governors in Sumatra and Kalimantan this week ordered the establishment of 24-hour command posts in all provinces on the two islands to monitor the situation and contain the problem.

Efforts to extinguish the fires, blamed largely on plantation and timber companies using slash-and-burn methods to clear land, have been complicated by Indonesia's drought, said to be the worst in 50 years.

President Soeharto banned last week the practice of burning forests to clear land.

The President has also set up a national coordinating team to handle the forest fires, headed by State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja. (08)