Four firms probed over forest fires

PEKANBARU, Riau: State Minister for the Environment Nabiel Makarim said on Tuesday that government investigators were still investigating four companies allegedly involved in the burning of forest areas for land clearance in Riau province.

The four, he revealed, were PT Multi Gambut Industri, PT Musi Mas, PT Bukit Kapur Reksa and PT Inti Prona.

He expected the cases would be brought to court to serve as a warning to other forest concessionaires.

He said that in many cases, the courts released wrongdoers due to the judges poor knowledge of environmental law.

The latest such case was the release of the owner of oil palm plantation PT Jatim Jaya Perkasa by the Dumai District Court despite the existence of strong evidence supporting the charges that the company had intentionally set fires in its concession in the province.

"The provincial legislative council will ask the judges to explain their ruling," he told reporters after holding a closed- door dialog with the provincial authorities in the city.

As of Monday, a satellite image showed 71 hot spots in the forest fire-prone province. --JP