Plantation chief feels the heat over forest fires

Plantation chief feels the heat over forest fires

Puji Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru

A director of a plantation company in Minas district, Riau, has
been declared a suspect for ordering the clearing of hundreds of
hectares of land by setting fires, which has contributed to the
haze now shrouding parts of Sumatra island and neighboring
countries.

The heads of Minas and Kandis districts, where the plantation
is located, are also being questioned in connection with the
case.

Adj. Comr. Samuel, a member of the government's joint team
assigned to probe the forest fires, identified the suspect by his
initials as AS. He was arrested on Friday along with several
documents taken as evidence and is now being detained at the
provincial police office.

"We have secured enough strong evidence. The case will be
submitted to the prosecutors soon," he said.

The team consists of National Police officers, prosecutors and
officials of the Office of the State Minister for the
Environment.

Khairul Zainal, the head of the Riau Environmental Impact
Management Agency (Bapedalda) and a member of the team, told The
Jakarta Post that AS was arrested after the team discovered the
company had cleared some 800 hectares of land from a planned
1,200 hectares by burning off forest growth.

The team found AS had ordered the slash-and-burn land
clearance and issued 12 letters, each ordering the clearing of
100 hectares of land. The company had allocated Rp 650,000 for
the clearing of one hectare of land.

"The written documents confirm that the fire was organized,"
he said, saying that the team also seized piles of felled trees,
dozens of used tires used to set the fire and an excavator.

Khairul revealed that land clearing by fire had also occurred
around other giant plantation companies in the area such as PT
Multi Gambut Industri, PT Raja Garuda Mas and PT Sari Lembah
Subur.

"According to the law, companies that are located near the
burned land must also be responsible for the fire," he said.

Despite the arrest, the Riau administration continued its plan
to sue PT AU and other plantation companies for allegedly
starting the fire.

Samuel also disclosed that the team also questioned Abdul
Razak, the head of Minas district, and Amrul, the head of Kandis
district.

"We questioned them on Friday night for five hours. We will
summon them soon in connection with the issuance of 600 letters
promising compensation for PT AU's land. We don't know whether it
was them or their predecessors who issued the letters," he said.

Antara reported that thick haze that covered the Riau capital
of Pekanbaru had forced motorists to turn their fog lights on
during the day.

Local authorities have attempted to extinguish the fires, but
they face difficulties, as most of the fires have occurred on
peat land.

The haze also blanketed other parts of mainland Riau. The
local Meteorology and Geophysics has predicted that the rainy
season will only start in September.

In the neighboring province of Jambi, thick haze continued to
blanket the city from dusk till dawn. Although the visibility had
improved at more than 100 meters, the haze caused respiratory and
eye problems.

The Jambi administration did not issue any statement
concerning the haze.

Several oil palm plantation companies in the province have
also been accused of clearing land by setting fires. Data from
the local forestry agency revealed there were 75 hot spots in the
province.

Pekanbaru health agency predicted that the number of people
suffering from respiratory problems would rise to 20 percent this
month from 4,672 due to the thick haze.