Plantation pays $1.1 million fine for burning land
Plantation pays $1.1 million fine for burning land
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government and a Malaysian plantation company agreed on a
US$1.1 million penalty, which the latter must pay for causing
haze by illegally burning plantation land in Riau.
It is the first time such a deal has been negotiated between
the government and a company.
State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim described on
Wednesday the agreement between the government and the Malaysian-
based PT Adei Plantation as a win-win solution.
"The money can be used to finance reforestation, and the
company will not go bankrupt because of the agreement," he told
reporters. The agreement was signed last week.
Nabiel said the government was considering an appropriate
place to carry out a US$ 1.1 million reforestation program.
"The program will not be located in PT Adei's plantation area,
as the company is required to do its own replanting," he said.
The agreement was reached despite the Supreme Court upholding
a ruling sentencing Adei's president director, a Malaysian
national identified only as Goby, to eight months in prison and a
Rp 100 million (about US$11,200) fine for the plantation fires.
Authorities at the Riau Environmental Impact Management Agency
(Bapedalda) found 17 fires in Adei's plantation areas in 1999 and
2000.
Officials estimated fire had engulfed some 3,000 hectares of
Adei's plantation land, worsening haze in Riau.
In early 2001, prosecutors took the case to court in the
provincial capital Pekanbaru, demanding a four-year jail sentence
for Adei's president director, Goby.
The Pekanbaru District Court found Goby guilty and sentenced
him to two years in jail. Goby appealed against the verdict.
The Riau High Court then lowered his sentence to eight months
and fined him Rp 100 million.
Prior to Adei's case, a coalition of 13 non-governmental
organizations and community groups from North Sumatra had tried
but failed to secure Rp 50 billion in compensation from various
timber associations for fires they accused them of causing in
1997 and 1998. A high court overturned an earlier verdict
requiring the associations to pay the Rp 50 billion.
The islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan often have to cope with
haze during the dry season. Thick haze occurs in many provinces
on the two islands as well as in neighboring Singapore and
Malaysia.
Besides natural causes, fire is often caused by locals or
companies burning bushland, plantation or forest areas.
Burning plantation areas is prohibited under Law No. 23/1997
on the environment, but many locals and companies often choose to
clear land with fire.