Government to file lawsuits against 10 Riau companies
Government to file lawsuits against 10 Riau companies
Puji Santoso, Pekanbaru
A government team will soon submit the case files of three
companies that have allegedly damaged the environment to the
prosecutor's office, as part of its plan to file a Rp 2 trillion
(US$213 billion) lawsuit, an investigator says.
The team consists of National Police officers, prosecutors and
officials of the Office of the State Minister of the Environment.
"We're in the process of completing the case files of the
three companies. We expect to complete and submit them to the
prosecutor's office in August," Zainal Abidin, an investigator
with the office, said on Saturday.
The case files of seven other companies are expected to be
submitted to the prosecutor's office by the end of the year.
The three are described as a plantation company, an industrial
plant that operates in a forested area and a forest
concessionaire.
Although Zainal would not reveal the names of the companies,
he did say that they were located in Bengkalis and Siak
regencies.
"We are not ready to name the companies as we don't want any
unexpected issues to arise," he said.
The team had declared last month the director of a plantation
company in Minas, Riau -- with the initials AS -- a suspect. He
had allegedly ordered that 1,200 hectares of land be cleared for
farming. The clearance of 800 hectares of that land, via the
slash-and-burn method, reportedly contributed to the haze
shrouding parts of Sumatra island and neighboring countries.
The team found that AS had issued 12 letters, each ordering
the clearance of 100 hectares of land. The company had allocated
Rp 650,000 for the clearance of each hectare of land.
Local authorities attempted to extinguish the fires, but faced
difficulties as most had been lit on peat land. The haze also
blanketed parts of mainland Riau. In the neighboring province of
Jambi, thick haze caused the city to be blanketed from dusk till
dawn last month.
Zainal explained that completing the files was a lengthy
process as the team did not want to risk the prosecutor's office
returning them, due to incomplete data.
He added that the lawsuit would not be filed against the 10
companies at once, but rather, one by one.
Zainal said the Rp 2 trillion figure was agreed upon based on
a study conducted by an expert team on forest and soil damage
from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB).
"Thus, it's not true that we created the (Rp 2 trillion)
figure. It is based upon the results of a study done by an expert
team," he said.
Aside from seeking compensation, the state is also seeking to
prosecute the 10 companies based on Law No. 27/1997 on
environmental management.
The directors of the 10 companies are being investigated as
possible suspects as they are responsible for any dubious
decisions that were made, said Zainal.